Germany announces arms swap deal with Greece, as previous deals flounder & More News Here

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has introduced a swap deal with Greece to ship arms to Ukraine after Berlin reportedly did not ship on previous comparable deals. 

Scholz’s announcement additionally stunned Greeks, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis didn’t say a phrase in regards to the matter at a press convention after the EU Council. 

The chancellor held talks with his Greek counterpart, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on the sidelines of the European Council assembly on Tuesday (31 May) in Brussels.

“[Greece] will supply Ukraine, and we will supply them with German armoured personnel carriers,” Scholz informed a press convention. The last particulars would now must be hashed out amongst the 2 nations’ defence ministers earlier than their “swift” implementation, he added.

Scholz defined that supporting Ukraine with arms included “that countries with weapons from the era of the Warsaw pact” can ship theirs to Ukraine, just like the chain swap settlement with Czechia. “I have now agreed with the Greek prime minister to do the same with Greece.”

The Greek ministry of defence famous that Athens would offer BMP-1 armoured personnel carriers developed and manufactured by the Soviet Union within the Sixties.

Germany had initially bought 500 of them to Greece in 1994. Then, the Greeks paid round 50,000 German Marks (about €25,000) apiece. Now, lower than 200 stay as the remaining has been bought off or destroyed.

The kicker: The tanks that Greece will obtain in alternate are presupposed to be tanks of the sort “Marder,” for which the arms producer Rheinmetall had unsuccessfully utilized for permission to promote to Ukraine weeks in the past, in response to Business Insider.

Additionally, these chain swaps favoured by the German authorities have hitherto been mired in controversy.

Last Tuesday (24 May), Polish Prime Minister Andrzej Duda had accused Germany of breaking its guarantees to ship tanks to the nation in return for Warsaw’s arm shipments to Ukraine.

“They have not fulfilled this promise. And frankly: we are very disappointed about it,” Duda informed German every day Welt.

Scholz mentioned he had additionally talked to his Polish counterpart, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, to make sure that the chain swap with Poland would proceed easily. “We both want to achieve this in the best, good cooperation,” he added.

In the case of an analogous deal struck with Czechia earlier this month, no date for delivering the arms has been introduced.

These chain swaps are typically thought to learn Ukraine as it’s extra acquainted with Soviet-era gear. The BMP may very well be a type of “armoured personnel carrier to go” for the Ukrainian forces, commented a military expert.

Yet, the Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin, Andrij Melnyk, highlighted that  “nobody had the idea to ask Ukrainians whether we need the old stuff at all.”

Concerns about Germany skirting its obligations stay.

“First of all, it is Germany itself that should help Ukraine,” Duda famous.

His considerations are shared by some analysts. “Why not deliver directly to Ukraine? Because delivering to Greece is seen as less damaging to the relationship with Russia, which is still being relied on?” requested analyst Ulrich Speck on Twitter.

Learning the information from Scholz 

The announcement stunned Greeks, as at a press convention after the summit, which was the identical time as the German chancellor’s one, Mitsotakis didn’t point out something about such a deal. 

When requested about his bilateral assembly with Scholz, Mitsotakis mentioned he knowledgeable him in regards to the new escalation with Turkey within the jap Mediterranean whereas he prevented replying how the German chancellor reacted.  

“We consider it unthinkable for the Greek people to learn this news from the German Chancellor, at a time when the Greek Prime Minister did not say a word in his own interview,” the primary opposition Syriza celebration mentioned in a press release. 

The opposition additionally considers this transfer “dangerous” for the nation’s nationwide curiosity as Greece is getting “directly involved in the war in Ukraine” when escalation with Turkey can also be on the rise.  

“Mitsotakis government must stop making secret decisions on critical national issues […] We demand immediate information on the weapons it has sent and will send to Ukraine, as all European governments do, respecting their citizens,” Syriza added.

Macron backs Athens, others stay silent

Long-standing tensions between the 2 nations have began to simmer as soon as once more particularly after a go to of Mitsotakis to the US.

Eyeing Turkey’s strain on the US to unlock a deal for the supply of F-16 jet fighters, Mitsotakis informed the US Congress that Washington ought to thoughts the implications of such choices.

The assertion triggered the robust response of Ankara, which used its veto on the NATO accession of Sweden and Finland to place strain on Washington over the F-16 jet fighters.

“He no longer exists for me. I will never agree to meet with him. We will continue our way with honourable politicians,” mentioned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

Athens is desperately searching for allies within the recent escalation with Turkey, which even questions the sovereignty of many Greek islands.

But for now, the Commission, Berlin and Washington have taken a impartial stance. 

Only French President Emmanuel Macron spontaneously referred to the escalation of tensions between Greece and Turkey on the finish of the extraordinary assembly of the European Council.

He assured Greece of the “support of all Europeans and in particular of France”. 

The Turkish authorities’ feedback “calling into question Greece’s sovereignty over several islands” have to be “condemned as soon as possible”, in response to the French president.

“No one can endanger the sovereignty of a Member State,” Macron concluded.

The French president had not spoken out so clearly on the topic for the reason that summer time of 2020, when he denounced Erdogan’s authorities’s “inadmissible behaviour” within the area.

On Saturday, the Elysée Palace informed EURACTIV France that the French president didn’t talk about the disaster between Greece and Turkey throughout his name with Erdogan however solely matters associated to the warfare in Ukraine.

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