Realistic goals

Every country needs to pursue a staunch foreign policy line and Greece's major strategic threat is Turkey. Turkey is, and should be, Athens's top priority. Other foreign policy issues, such as the name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) or Greek-Albanian ties, are of course important, but they are not issues to top the agenda.

Greece has a certain amount of political capital on the international stage, and the leadership in Athens must make sure it spends it where it counts. When too many fronts are open, it's very hard to convince the other side to focus where it matters most.

The coming months will be crucial with regard to the Balkan aspect of Athens's foreign policy. The new government in Skopje has changed its rhetoric and appears ready to adopt confidence-building measures and, perhaps, a pragmatic compromise on the name dispute. Athens...

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