Greek-French defense deal up for ratification next week; FM dismisses Turkish criticism

A landmark Greek-French defense cooperation agreement will be tabled in a relevant Parliament committee next Tuesday, the first step towards a debate by the full plenum and a vote of ratification, which is expected to come on Thursday following addresses by political leaders.

In a statement on Friday, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias flatly dismissed sharp criticism expressed the same day by the Turkish foreign ministry, three days after the agreement was unveiled.

“The agreement with France is wholly defense… if Turkey is bothered by such agreements then it can only mean that it considers itself as the aggressive power,” he said, while calling Ankara’s reaction unacceptable.

“The agreement promotes European defense, it is compatible with our commitments to NATO, something that was acknowledged, in fact, by the American side.”

On the domestic front, the leader of the main opposition SYRIZA party, former premier Alexis Tsipras, in briefing his leftist party’s political council members, said he will demand two revisions in the draft agreement in order to vote in favor.

He said article 2 should be changed in order to expand France’s obligation towards aiding against threats to a future Greek Exclusive Economic Zone. He also said article 18 must be revised in order to preclude Greek forces from assisting the French in sub-Saharan Africa. In short, Tsipras calls for an expansion of the French scope of assistance, but without reciprocity by the Greek side.

In a reaction to what appears to be the main opposition’s refusal to ratify the agreement, government spokesman Yannis Economou said Tsipras is merely “discovering excuses and evasion in order to vote against the historic Mitsotakis-Macron agreement.”