FOREIGN RELATIONS: Beyond Protocol in Greece

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The U.S. State Department has been moderately frigid in its dealings with the militarist dictatorship of Premier George Papadopoulos in Greece. Only last week Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Sisco publicly regretted the lack of sufficient progress toward a return to a constitutional government. But a few days later Secretary of Commerce Maurice Stans flew into Athens and warmly embraced the regime.

Noting that nine high Greek officials had turned out to attend a luncheon in his honor at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, Stans told them that he considered this "a compliment to me and a compliment to the Government of the United States and to the wonderfully close relations that exist today between our two countries." Moreover, he said that U.S. business executives "greatly appreciate Greece's attitude toward American investment" and the "sense of security" it is giving them.

When Greek newspapers bannered Stans' praise, the Commerce Secretary told reporters that he did not speak for the State Department and that he did not disagree with its attitude toward Greece. The conclusion in Washington was that no one had asked Stans to signal a significant shift in U.S. diplomatic relations with Papadopoulos. Stans, going beyond the bounds of protocol or policy, was on his own—and might well find his reception on his return to Washington somewhat chillier than his welcome in Athens.