Greece said to reject plan to re-enter NATO phalanx

February 22, 1980

A pro-government Athens newspaper said Thursday that Greece has rejected plans submitted by NATO's senior commander in Europe, Gen. Bernard W. Rogers, for the country's re-entry into the alliance's integrated military structure.

Greece, which withdrew from NATO's military wing in 1974 in protest against the Turkish invasin of Cyprus, is seeking a special relationship with NATO under which the Greek armed forces would remain under national command, except in major East-West conflict, when they would revert to NATO command.