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EUROKINISSI / LEROSNEWS.GR
The growing tension in the Eastern Mediterranean under the responsibility of Turkey brings new equipment orders to Greece, at a time when its economy is particularly fragile and anemic due to the coronavirus pandemic. In any case, entering a new round of arms systems competition with Ankara will mean further cuts in already meager social spending and possibly new fiscal measures. And of course, respectively, the Turkish economy is in a significant crisis.
Already this morning, the Minister of Finance, in statements to ANT1, stressed that it has been decided to strengthen the dissuasive force of the Armed Forces, starting this year. He added that the government has reached the funds that will be used to support the Armed Forces with weapons – and not only – programs.
At the same time, the Minister of State, George Gerapetritis, speaking with SKAI and referring to the armament – after clarifying that there has been no agreement with France for the “Rafal” type aircraft – underlined the government’s basic strategic choice “to go for an update. of armament “. our systems and beyond. There will be an improvement both in the number and in the operational capacity of the Armed Forces personnel. It is a plan that will be announced soon for the update both in personnel and in infrastructure. Based on the army’s proposals, already in the current period we have a menu of options in terms of updating the existing weapons systems but also the purchase of new ones, within the budget space that we will have ”.
When asked about the update time, the Minister of State replied: “as soon as possible”. He added that “the options our country has are very broad, we are in negotiations and discussions. “Our intention is also to improve the national industry.”
At the same time, Turkey, as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes today, has been arming itself like a locust in recent years, having spent $ 20.5 billion on military spending last year alone, an increase of more than 50% from 2015 and almost double that. , what ten years ago. “
