Greece’s NATO allies and partners have renewed pressure on Athens to sell Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine through intermediaries, writes the Greek daily Kathimerini, quoted by BTA.
Specifically, according to the publication, such a request is made primarily by the US and France, as well as allies from NATO’s eastern flank. If Greece agrees to sell some of its 24 Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets, the US, France or Germany could act as intermediaries, and the Czech Republic is the center of such deals.
Estonia has also expressed its willingness to play the role of a mediator – one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine.
Greece's position on such a deal, however, is negative because the country wants to avoid the possibility of high-tech weapons from its arsenal being directed against Russia, writes “Kathimerini“.
On the other hand, Athens is interested in the possibility of acquiring another 6-12 more modern “Rafale“ aircraft from France and has discussed with the French side a reduction in their price in case of resale of the older “Mirage“. So far, attempts to sell the “Mirage“ have hit a snag. Talks with India about such a resale have not yielded any results, as have contacts with Balkan countries.
Despite its reluctance to sell Ukraine high-tech weapons, Greece continues to supply outdated weapons such as 60 self-propelled 203 mm M-110 howitzers, which have been in its arsenal since the 1960s. The howitzers will be delivered to the Czech Republic, which in return will supply new 155 mm shells with a range of 40 km, as well as spare parts for combat vehicles of Eastern origin that are in service in Greece.
The newspaper also writes that Greece is under pressure, mainly from Washington, to purchase weapons for Ukraine under the PURL initiative (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List - "List of Ukraine's Priority Needs"). So far, the initiative has been mainly attended by Baltic and Scandinavian countries.
Greece is also under other pressure, this time within the EU, namely to agree to Turkey's inclusion in the European defense credit mechanism SAFE. The aim of the countries that insist on this is not so much to achieve practical results, since Ankara already develops bilateral cooperation with EU countries, but rather to bring it closer to Brussels. However, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has repeatedly stressed that Greece will not agree to Turkey's inclusion in SAFE until it gives up the threat of war in case Athens decides to expand its territorial waters in the Aegean Sea.