US discussing future of bases with Greece

Greece and the United States opened talks on the future status of American military bases in Greece, an authoritative source said. The talks were held between the deputy secretary-general of the Foreign Ministry, Stavros Roussos, and US Ambassador Robert McCloskey. Greece had refused to discuss the future of the bases and said they could not operate while it remained outside NATO's military structure. But Athens's decision to rejoin the alliance's military wing, from which it had withdrawn in 1974 to protest the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, cleared the way for the discussions.