Greece and the United States are discussing possible changes to the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA), expected to be approved this fall, Greek Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexandros Papaioannou told reporters at a briefing
ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2021) Greece and the United States are discussing possible changes to the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA), expected to be approved this fall, Greek Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexandros Papaioannou told reporters at a briefing.
"Amendments are under discussion with the US side, negotiations are still ongoing, foreign ministers are also involved in the discussion. We hope that negotiations will be over in the nearest future and the deal will be signed this fall during a personal meeting," Papaioannou said in response to a question concerning the new agreement on US military bases.
The spokesperson did not share any further details of the deal, stating that it concerns only the two negotiating sides and should not be made public. As for a personal visit by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to Washington, it is not on the agenda at the moment due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Papaioannou also added that modern US military bases are not the same as during the Cold War and operate within a different framework.
Athens signed the MDCA with Washington in October 2019. The agreement enables the US to use facilities in Larissa, Stefanovikio and Alexandroupoli, expand its Souda Bay naval base and use any military facility on the Greek territory with the government's approval. Prior to signing the MDCA, the US operated only one military base in Greece Souda Bay in Crete, one of Greece's largest islands.
In his address to the parliament in October 2020, Dendias notified of the government's intentions to expand the defense agreement or sign a new one with the US. This was later confirmed by Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos in his interview with the Proto Thema newspaper on February 1, where he said that Greece and the US were already preparing amendments to the MDCA.
According to the media, the US proposed extending the agreement for five years. Currently, it must be renewed every year by the parliament. In addition, the two countries discuss possibilities for opening three more US military bases in Greece in Kavala, on the island of Karpathos and on the island of Skyros.
