Get out of town
Sir: Noel Malcolm (`The new bully of the Balkans', 15 August) had better not show his face in Greece in the near future. Alas, I nevertheless agree with him. Despite the fact that everything western of value derives from the Greek, modern political geography cannot be mortgaged to ancient history. The fault lies with ex-foreign minis-
. and here's us on the beach at Malaga...' ter Anthony Samaras. An American-edu- cated technocrat with impeccable creden- tials — his only mistake before the Mace- donian question was losing to Taki in the first round of the Greek tennis nationals 20 years ago this week — he painted himself into a corner by reacting to an extremist provocation about Greek Macedonia. He was fired by Premier Mitsotakis as a result, but ever since, both President Karamanlis and the Prime Minister have been prisoners of Samaras's populist reaction. Ironically, the demagogue Andreas Papandreou is gaining politically by fanning nationalist flames. Such are the joys of democracy. But I still believe Constantine Mitsotakis will defuse the crisis.
Taki Theodoracopulos
Gstaad, Switzerland
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