The excellent relations between Greece and the United States, that recently visiting US State Secretary Antony Blinken commented on, is the result of systematic work by the Greek government, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview on Wednesday.
Speaking to national broadcaster ERT, Mitsotakis quoted Blinken as telling him that relations between the two countries had never been at such high level in the last 30 years he served as a diplomat. The Greek premier added that this relationship has affected positively several sectors, including the economy and the geopolitical level, while Greek Armed Forces have been significantly boosted as a result of the strategic relationship with the US.
“The Greek government has submitted a substantiated request to acquire F-35 jet fighters, and I believe this request is mature and will be approved by the American authorities – that is, the State Department – relatively soon, in my opinion. Congress has already agreed to it, so we may be able to proceed to a significant procurement that will boost even further Armed Forces, especially the Hellenic Air Force,” Mitsotakis said.
He reiterated that in terms of Turkiye’s procurement of American F-16s, this does not relate to Greek-American relations, “nor are we the ones that will obstruct or have the power to influence the sale of armaments to another country.” Obviously, he said, defense material cannot be used within an alliance for flights over Greek islands, for example. “But I will hold on to the good climate of recent months in Greek-Turkish relations, and I would hope that the times of greater tension are behind us and part of the past,” the PM added.
