MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2020) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced the country will purchase new weapons and military hardware as well as increase the recruitment of professional soldiers in a bid to enhance its defense capacity, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported on Saturday.
According to the report, Greece will procure a squadron of 18 Dassault Rafale fighter jets to replace the aging Mirage 2000 planes, four new frigates, while refurbishing four existing ones, four Romeo naval helicopters, antitank weapons for the army, torpedoes for the navy and guided missiles for the air force, as announced by Mitsotakis during a visit to the Thessaloniki city.
Additionally, an extra 15,000 professional soldiers will be recruited to the Greek armed forces over the next five years, Mitsotakis was cited as saying.
Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean have been brewing for many months around Turkey's exploration for gas in waters which Cyprus and Greece claim as their exclusive economic zones. The situation exacerbated this summer, as Turkey sent an exploratory vessel accompanied by a fleet of military vessels to drill in Greece's continental shelf.
As Ankara ignored the calls to vacate the disputed waters, Greece has mobilized its armed forces. France and Italy sent a naval contingent to the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct joint drills with Greece and Cyprus as part of the so-called Quartet Cooperation Initiative in late August.
Turkey responded by conducting its own military exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean. On Friday, Ankara issued another international Navtex alert to conduct artillery exercises over the weekend.
