Besides ordinary crime, the main problems in maintaining public order in the 1990s are narcotics control and the influx of illegal migrants from the Balkans and the Middle East. In order to meet those challenges, the Hellenic Police is trying to modernize its structure and methods along the lines of Western police forces. To assist in modernization, in 1994 Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou promised US$27 million to upgrade police equipment and acquire helicopters. Experts have also identified improved police training as a major requirement, both at the basic level and at the more advanced level of modern investigative methods. To expedite achievement of those goals, Greece has developed numerous programs for cooperation with Western countries, including the United States, as well as with Russia, Israel, and other countries that have well-developed security institutions.

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For current information about Greece's national security position and policies, a number of publications of the Hellenic Foundation for Defense and Foreign Policy are authoritative sources, but most of them are available only in Greek. Among the topics the foundation's publications cover are the Cyprus situation, Greece in relation to the Middle East, United States policy toward Greece and Turkey, and Greece's policy toward Yugoslavia. For current statistics and a complete description of the Greek armed forces, the best source is Jane's Sentinel: The Balkans, which is updated annually. Southern European Security in the 1990s, edited by Roberto Aliboni, describes the security concerns of nations in Greece's region of the Mediterranean. Tozun Bahcheli's Greek-Turkish Relations since 1955 reviews the history of the relationship, with special emphasis on Cyprus, Theodore Couloumbis's The United States, Greece, and Turkey: The Troubled Triangle, and Monteagle Stearns's Entangled Allies: U.S. Policy Toward Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus provides historical background on the United States role in the 1974 Cyprus crisis and its results over the following two decades. Greece and EC Membership Evaluated, edited by Panos Kazakos and Panayotis Ioakimidis, describes the impact of EC (now EU) membership on Greece's economic and national security situation. Greece's narcotics problems and policies are described in the International Narcotics Strategy Report, an annual publication of the United States Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics Matters. Specific national security topics such as arms purchases and events in the eastern Mediterranean are reported in the Federal Broadcast Information Service's Daily Report: West Europe, a daily summary of press items. (For further information and complete citations, see Bibliography.)

Data as of December 1994

NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece TRENDS AND PROBLEMS IN DOMESTIC SECURITY information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece TRENDS AND PROBLEMS IN DOMESTIC SECURITY should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.