Tsipras, the UN and the “American factor”

We have made it a point to emphasize that PM Tsipras September 26-October 1 New York visit focused far less on the business of the UN than it did on trying to score points with the American media, politicians and the local Greek-American community.  He is not the first Greek Prime Minister to follow this strategy and we doubt he will be the last.  But let us take a look at what Tsipras’ extended trip (nearly 6 days) accomplished and whether the time spent might not have been reduced, so that the Syriza government could have immediately focused on delivering its urgent structural reform commitments which are already seen as lagging in Brussels and Berlin.  Critical governmental functions, such as the opening of Greece’s Parliament, were delayed by a week until the PM could return, and with the extensive list of immediate reform legislation now being made public, one could argue that a reform-oriented head of state should not have left Athens before Parliament had been launched into action.
In the area of UN and related activities, PM Tsipras and FM Kotzias managed to fill the Greek New York dance card quite satisfactorily, if the simple number of meetings is the primary criteria used.  The UN General Assembly (UNGA) week is normally structured to facilitate as many side meetings as is possible for all participants, and nobody can challenge the utility of this week-long meeting to a newly-elected government.   But the Tsipras strategy of taking Greece’s debt restructuring demands to the UN impressed nobody, since most ministers know the UN plays no role in developed country debt discussions.  His comments on the refugee crisis found more traction.  On top of the Tsipras General Assembly address October 1 (the main event for each head of state), he spoke earlier at the 2015 Sustainable Development Summit and also met Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.  Just to make things interesting, there was a small dust-up over the name used for Macedonia/FYROM at a session on Violent extremism/ISIS, chaired by President Obama.  All of this does not strike us as six days work, but some of the meetings/speeches had previously fixed dates that PM Tsipras had to accommodate.  Bilateral meetings at the UN were scheduled to fill his free time, including with leaders from China, Palestine, Brazil and Turkey, among others. We are more impressed with the extensive range of FM Kotzias’ contacts, but that is precisely what all foreign ministers do during the UNGA week, every possible hour is filled with a new meeting.  For full coverage of the UNGA high level week’s activities, please check the official Greek Foreign Ministry site:  http://www.mfa.gr/en/current-affairs/news-announcements/overview-of-foreign-minister-kotzias-participation-in-ministerial-week-of-the-un-general-assembly-new-york-city-27-september-2-october-2015.html
American focused activities — was the extended New York trip really worth the time?   Here is where PM Tsipras’ activities have generated some controversy, both because of the timing (requiring considerable extra time out of Greece) and questionable results. Nobody has any quarrel with PM Tsipras meeting with American (the UN’s host-country) officials such as President Obama, little more than a photo opportunity this year, or Secretary of State Kerry, on the peripheries of the UN events.  PM Tsipras spent valuable time working the US media, most notably the Wall Street Journal and New York Times’ editorial boards, but once again that is rather standard.  He held no significant meetings with foreign investors to our knowledge.   Speaking to the Greek-American community, PM Tsipras was highly appreciative of Washington’s behind-the-scenes support in this summer’s intense debt negotiations, even though US had no formal role as creditor.  Tsipras’ appearance at the Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) on September 27^th drew the most fire during the trip. First, the Tsipras appearance was arranged and stage-managed by one of Greece’s most influential oligarchs, Ambassador Gianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki, a representative of the political class that Tsipras is most committed to regulate.   Making allowances for the PM’s greatly-improved but not excellent English language skills, the Clinton-Tsipras discussion on potential investment in Greece left much to be desired, and probably convinced many potential investors the right time to invest in Greece is not likely to arrive any time soon.  Accordingly, questions are being asked why PM Tsipras added so many days to the front of his program to participate in this session which arguably gained nothing for Greece, when he should have been getting his new government up and running; he was fully aware of the September UN meetings when he set the Greek election date for September 20th.  Check the full CGI video here and you decide:
https://youtu.be/yJAoV4GfQqk
Our bottom line suggestion for next year — a shorter New York trip would be better. Arguably, the major success for the Greek side was the promise of continued high level engagement with the U.S., in the form of the planned visit by Secretary of State John Kerry in November. But did that really require 6 days in New York to work out?