Greece and France sign $3.4bn worth arms deals

The Greek government and France, on Tuesday, approved a 3 billion Euro ($3.4 billion) agreement for three new French-made frigates that defence officials say are vital for addressing ongoing tensions with neighbouring Turkey, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Defence Minister of Greece, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, said the Greek military needs to modernise following repeated funding cuts during the country’s acute 2010-18 financial crisis.

“There is no armament program that is ‘slightly necessary’ or ‘somewhat necessary’,” Panagiotopoulos also told.

In the Greek Parliament, lawmakers also voted in favour of adding six new Rafale fighter jets to an existing order for 18 planes, six of them newly built and 12 that were previously in service in the French Air Force, the report says.

The Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and French President, Emmanuel Macron, finalised the frigate deal last year, along with an enhanced defence cooperation agreement between their countries.

French President, Emmanuel Macron, aims to build a European army. In 2018 Macron had warned that Europeans cannot be protected without a “true, European army”.

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