In the fast-paced live event involving six Greek party leaders, six journalists with a moderating colleague sought responses to questions of foreign policy and defense.
The armaments programs were very well planned and did not diverge from fiscal rules, New Democracy leader and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said. “That is why we achieved primary surpluses in 2022 and will do so this year as well.” He added that Greece “built very powerful alliances, and the balance between Greece and Türkiye in the US Congress is leaning toward Greece.” Mitsotakis also welcomed main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras’ comments that he would continue the defense programs because “they are non-negotiable.”
The ND leader also commented on Turkish elections, saying that “we will respect the choice of the Turkish people, and I am willing to talk with whomever it chooses.” He said that Turkish revisionism is systemic and has been incorporated into all Turkish parties, but he would be willing to discuss the only outstanding issue with Türkiye, which is the delimitation of maritime zones. “The policy of strong deterrence and strong alliances must continue,” he underlined.
SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance will “obviously honor the defense contracts Greece has signed, but will fight to bring projects to the Greek defense industry as well,” party leader Alexis Tsipras responded, adding that “it is unacceptable that a program of 14-15 billion euros has not brought a single euro to the Greek defense industry.” Türkiye, for example, had linked 60% of its defense to its national industry.
“Following very many years of [loan] memoranda difficulties, we were the first government to move ahead and upgrade the F-16s and improve the country’s defense,” he noted. He also pointed out that as main opposition party, he voted for most of the programs introduced in Parliament by New Democracy, like the frigates and Rafale. Tsipras added however that his party would not give a carte blanche to programs not supported by the Greek Armed Forces general staffs; the example he used was the government’s announcement of purchasing the extra Rafale jets instead of having the Armed Forces do so.
The main opposition leader also said “defending the borders is self-evident” and his government did not tear down the border wall. “We will not oppose the proposals of people in the know,” but “we will not fool citizens,” either, he noted. The migration and refugee issue cannot be resolved through walls but through negotiations on a European level, with a new migration and asylum plan that distributes the burden fairly between European countries.
In terms of relations with Türkiye, PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis said that his party’s policy followed three main paths, whoever wins the elections in the neighboring country: a) Lifting the veto in the EU so that a European policy for Türkiye can be formulated, b) guarding the borders and using European funding to strengthen the border wall, since Greek borders are also European borders, and c) strengthening armaments programs and the Greek defense industry. Greece, he underlined, must play a leading role in the EU, pushing for a European policy on Türkiye that will not be obscured by references to a Prespes-like Agreement on the Aegean, and that there is nothing to discuss.
All armaments agreements signed with France, the United States, and other countries serve NATO’s interests and lead to participation in aggressive acts that will make Greece a target of retaliation, Communist Party of Greece (KKE) leader Dimitris Koutsoubas said. “Sending armaments to Ukraine, having Hellenic Air Force jets flying over the Balkans and warships sailing the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea does not serve the need to protect Greece’s airspace, borders, and sovereign rights,” he underlined.
Asked what he would do if his party won the elections, Koutsoubas replied, “We have nothing to argue about with, for example, the Turkish people. We can have relations with all countries of the world, including the United States, Germany, Russia, China, and others.” He also expressed disagreement with the embargo against Russia, “which results in the Greek farmer and Greek worker paying for these sanctions, preventing us from developing relations on an equal standing with other countries.”
In a multi-polar world, you cannot simply choose your fate, you must choose who to align with, Greek Solution leader Kyriakos Velopoulos said. “Under the West, we lost the name ‘Macedonia’ and North Epirus, while international treaties said different things. We lost half of Cyprus, we are losing the Aegean, and we may lose Thrace. For Greek Solution, the national interest establishes whose side we will join,” he said. International law serves as an alibi of a failure, he insisted; “there is no international law. You cannot say that the Greek-Turkish issue is a European problem, when the billions our partners have invested in Türkiye serve to obstruct that.”
“The defense of our national space is an obligation we all have,” MeRA25 Secretary Yanis Varoufakis said, in response to a question on what he would do if Turkish commandos landed on a Greek islet. He also underlined clarifying that Greece does not need the permission of its allies to use its defense systems, contrary to what former prime minister Kostas Simitis did in 1996, Varoufakis pointed out. The same happened on Cyprus in 1974, he added.
“Deterrence is utmost,” he noted, however, and said that MeRA25 is leading efforts for a regional international conference on delimiting maritime zones, since it rejects bilateral contacts with Türkiye. If an invasion did occur, he would listen carefully to the general staffs’ opinions and hold several meetings with allies as well.
Varoufakis also expressed support for the abolition of mandatory military service, insisting that it is a necessary step to increasing the readiness of the Armed Forces, very much like what happens in the United States and Great Britain.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
