Maria Karystianou Maria Karystianou seems to have decided to talk about everything. From abortion and the rule of law to foreign policy. And almost every time she manages to add a new “pearl”to the public debate.
In her recent interview, she chose to deliver lessons in diplomacy, explaining that anyone who sits at the table in negotiations with Turkey must not only know his agenda, but also have… “psychoanalyzed” his interlocutors.
This is an approach that might be of interest in a self-improvement seminar. But it can hardly be considered a serious positioning for managing Greek-Turkish relations. Foreign policy is not practiced by crude psychological interpretations nor by theories of personalities. It is exercised with knowledge of international law, power relations, geopolitical realities and national interests.
But the problem is not just “psychoanalysis”. Eit is also the ease with which Ms Karystianou attributes to the Prime Minister statements she never made. “He says the Turks have a right to the Aegean because they have big beaches,” she claimed.
When did Kyriakos Mitsotakis say this?Where was it recorded? In which interview? In what speech?
The answer is simple: nowhere.
You cannot claim the role of political leader and at the same time build arguments on phrases that have never been said. You cannot berate others for lack of seriousness and at the same time construct an opponent out of words that are only in your imagination’s playbook.
Even more revealing is the certainty with which she presented her own formula for success in negotiations: you leave successful when you have achieved 80% of your agenda.
An arbitrary percentage. No explanation. No documentation. Without even specifying how that 80% is measured.
International politics is not a school exercise or a corporate sales goal. Negotiations are not graded by percentages. There are agreements, correlations, red lines and national aspirations. All the rest are simplistic generalizations that sound nice in an interview but fall apart on first contact with reality.
Ms. Karystianou’s case shows that when political ambition meets overconfidence, the result is often statements that are more embarrassing than thought-provoking. Yesterday it was the public consultation on abortion Today it is the “psychoanalysis” of the Turks. Tomorrow it may be something else.
But at some point seriousness is needed. Especially when you’re talking about issues of national importance.
Because foreign policy is no place for arbitrary theories, personal speculation and imaginary debates. And because, as Nikos Plakias aptly put it, “the xylolium begat politicians.” Eventually the xylene will evaporate. But the reality will stay there. And with it will stay everything that was said.
