ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece on Monday signed a € 2.3 billion ($ 2.8 billion) deal with France to acquire 18 Rafale fighter jets as tensions remain with neighboring Turkey.
Florence Parly, the French Minister of Defense, has signed an agreement in Athens to deliver 12 used and six new aircraft built by Dassault Aviation over two years, starting in July.
France sided with Greece in a dispute over the borders in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean that has brought NATO members Greece and Turkey to the brink of war over the past few decades.
Tensions escalated again last summer when a Turkish exploration mission in disputed waters caused a dangerous military build-up.
Greece and Turkey have agreed to resume talks aimed at resolving the dispute peacefully. Senior diplomats from the two countries met in Istanbul on Monday to resume the process, which has been interrupted for almost five years.
But Athens says it will continue a multi-million euro program to upgrade its army after years of cuts due to the country’s financial crisis.
France and the United States are vying to supply the Greek navy with new frigates, while the Greek government recently approved plans to work with Israeli defense electronics firm Elbit Systems to build a new military flying academy in southern Greece to create.
“Improving the capabilities of the Hellenic Air Force through the acquisition of new fighter jets and the new modern training center is critical for Greece to provide a credible deterrent,” said Michael Tanchum, a senior fellow. to the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, told The Associated Press.
“It also offers Athens an increased ability to exercise more strategic autonomy if the EU and NATO frameworks are deemed insufficient, making Greece more of a player in its own right.”
From May, compulsory national service in the Greek army will be increased from nine to twelve months to increase the number of people serving in uniform. Parly, who also met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced that France would join two Greek military exercises later this year and take part in Rafale jets of the French air force.
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