ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th August, 2018) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) handed over to the Greek Coast Guard and the Navy a list of 50 vessels which it considers suspicions over their alleged intelligence activities in the Aegean Sea, local media reported on Sunday.
The list comprised the Names of fishing boats, sailing boats and pleasure craft that, according to the NATO data, collect information in the area, the Greek Real newspaper reported.
These vessels were believed to be interested in collecting information not only about Greek military facilities and activities, but also the movements of US personnel and equipment in the area.
US military activity in Greece has surged recently, according to the newspaper, which compared the whole area to a US military base.
Apart from the Souda Bay, where a NATO base was located, US vessels started operating in the area of Larissa in central Greece, the outlet pointed out.
Moreover, earlier in August, a Greek-US agreement on the deployment of MQ-9 Reaper drones at a Larissa air base was updated. The United States has been changing unmanned aerial vehicles, currently deployed at the base, for more modern ones to be used for intelligence activities in the area, the outlet pointed out.
The United States troops and equipment are currently deployed at the Souda base on the Greek island of Crete.
In May, media reports suggested that Washington was mulling the possibility of setting up one more base in Greece to relocate personnel and equipment currently deployed at the Turkish Incirlik base amid mounting tensions with Ankara.
