“Greece joins the F-35 club” – The Minister of Defense underlined that Greek-Turkish relations and Ankara’s challenges were put “on the carpet” in Washington
“The issue of demilitarization is outrageous to talk about. I would say that it has no sound legal basis, no matter how stupid, ridiculous, outrageous we think it is, yet we should explain this to partners and allies. Because the others – probably all – do not have the same knowledge or familiarity with the subject.” This was emphasized by the Minister of National Defense Nikos Panagiotopoulos in an interview with ERT at the end of his visit to the USA.
Mr. Panagiotopoulos underlined that Greek-Turkish relations and Ankara’s provocations were put “on the carpet” in Washington, while he categorically rejected Ankara’s objections to the demilitarization of the islands.
Asked if he thought we would have “calm waters” from now until at least the end of August, he said: “I want to think so. As they say in NATO we hope for the best but prepare for the worst. So we are being vigilant. I wouldn’t say on alert or on alert, but on alert.” However, he estimated that after the developments in Congress, events like those of the summer of 2020 will not be repeated.
Regarding the acquisition of the F-35 fighter jets, N. Panagiotopoulos stated that “Greece currently joins the F-35 club, in terms of the countries that will procure this aircraft regardless of whether there will be co-production or not.”
He also clarified that whether our country will participate in the co-production of the aircraft is something that “we will see along the way”.
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