Greece and France signed a 2.5-billion-euro ($3 billion) warplane deal onMonday as part of a plans to upgrade Greece’s armed force in responseto Turkish challenges in the eastern Mediterranean.
The deal will see Greece buying 18 Rafale jetslink, 12 of them used,made by French firm Dassault to bolster its forces during their regularmid-air skirmishes with Turkish pilots over disputed Aegean airspace.
It comes as the longtime regional rivals kick off a round of exploratorytalks over their clashing interests in the Mediterranean, their first innearly five years.
A Greek government spokesman insisted the talks were “not negotiations” andwere “not binding”.
France has strongly backed Greece in its standoff with Turkey over naturalgas resources and naval influence in the waters off their respective coasts.
The warplane deal “sends a clear message in several directions”, said GreekDefence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos as he oversaw a signing ceremonywith French counterpart Florence Parly in Athens.
Greek government spokesman Christos Tarantilis said delivery of the firstsix planes would begin in July.
A group of Greek airforce pilots and technicians are to travel to Francefor training over the next few days, he added.
Greece to beef up forces
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in September announced a “robust”upgrade to the country’s armed forces.
The programme, Greece’s most ambitious in decades, includes fourmulti-purpose frigates, four navy helicopters, anti-tank weapons, navytorpedoes, airforce missiles and 15,000 additional troops by 2025.
During her visit on Monday, Parly said France would soon make “proposals torenew Greece’s fleet of frigates”.
Turkey in August sent an exploration ship and a small navy flotilla toconduct seismic research in waters which Greece considers its own underpostwar treaties.
Greece responded by shadowing the Turkish flotilla with its warships, andby staging naval exercises with several EU allies and the United ArabEmirates.
In contrast to other EU and NATO allies, France strongly backed Greece inthe showdown with Turkey.
Courtesy: AFP