Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ high-profile presence at this week’s NATO summit raised eyebrows in the country and beyond, with his interview on Wednesday with former Trump administration deputy national security advisor Nadia Schadlow – within the framework of the NATO Public Forum – generating “fireworks” in a Parliament debate in Athens a day later.
One reference by the Greek premier regarding a “gap” in defense was the phrase pounced on by the opposition, with leftist SYRIZA party’s defense sector head, MP Evangelos Apostolakis, saying the “gap” as a result of supporting Ukraine “was extremely worrying”. Apostolakis, a retired career naval officer who rose to the rank of chief of staff of the Hellenic armed forces and then briefly served as defense minister during SYRIZA’s tenure, also said the interview “confirms the fears and warnings” that SYRIZA has cited at every opportunity.
SYRIZA has opposed any handover of weapons by Greece to Ukraine – even outdated Soviet-era systems purchased after 1990 for the former’s arsenal – saying such a prospect is detrimental to Greece’s own defense capabilities.
Meanwhile, the founder and president of the right-wing and what critics called the Russophile Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) party, Kyriakos Velopoulos, charged that Mitsotakis is guilty of “high treason”.
Minister to Velopoulos: You’re essentially aligning yourself, through omissions, with Russian interests
In an immediate reply, Minister of State Makis Voridis sharply rejected any possibility of a “defense gap” involving Greece, reading out a transcript of Mitsotakis’ interview, where he refers to “Europe’s gap”.
“No gap has been created in the country’s defense because we have taken care of it. Opposition parties are criticizing the government today, while they’ve voted against every defense expenditure; they haven’t supported the purchase of the Rafale (French-made fighter planes); they haven’t support the purchase of (new) frigates; they haven’t supported any (tabled) defense budget,” the outspoken Voridis said, in response to criticism over Mitsotakis’ statements.
Moreover, in a direct attack against Velopoulos, Voridis charged: “You are not telling the truth because you don’t want Ukraine to be strengthened; you’re not behind this European policy, you don’t want it and you’re essentially aligning yourself, through omissions, with Russian interests and not with European defense policy and efforts by the Greek Prime Minister; you come here (Parliament) to slander and distort.”
