Greece’s authorities has been accused by the nation’s important opposition celebration of exploiting protection points for home political acquire, native media reported.
The authorities of the conservative Nea Dimoktratia (ND) celebration should notice that being a “predictable ally” of the United States would neither clear up the nation’s issues nor serve its pursuits, the principle opposition SYRIZA-PS in an announcement, the Left.gr news web site reported.
Dismissing current remarks by Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos that the earlier SYRIZA authorities in 2015-2019 did nothing to enhance Greece’s protection capabilities, the assertion mentioned many steps had been taken throughout that interval, together with the beginning of efforts to modernize the nation’s F-16 fighter jet fleet.
Stressing that it will reply to authorities propaganda with “arguments, facts and numbers,” the celebration mentioned: “We expect and hope that bravery, honesty and responsibility will prevail. No demagogic expediency will be tolerated by us on any issue and especially on national defense matters.”
Meanwhile, Rizospastis, the official newspaper of the Greek Communist Party (KKE), claimed on Sunday that the U.S. had accelerated work to make its deployments on the Larissa Air Base in central Greece everlasting.
U.S. army authorities lately issued tender notices to broaden Washington’s presence on the base, it burdened, warning that such developments might make Greece a goal of rival imperialist facilities.
Greek lawmakers ratified a revised model of the U.S.-Greece Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) on May 12.
The deal permits the U.S. to make use of the Georgula Barracks in Greece’s central province of Volos and the Litochoro Training Ground and armed forces barracks within the northeastern port metropolis of Alexandroupoli (Dedeağaç), together with the naval base in Souda Bay in Crete, which the U.S. has operated since 1969.
The MDCA, first signed in 1990, has been renewed a number of occasions, with the final extension in 2019.
It was beforehand topic to annual renewal however later amendments allowed for five-year extensions.
