Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias has expressed strong opposition to the potential sale of Meteor missiles to Turkey by a consortium involving France.
In a social media post, Dendias revealed that he met with French Ambassador Laurence Auer at the Defense Ministry, requesting an official explanation about reports of the missile sale.
He emphasised that such a deal would contradict the “excellent strategic relations” between Greece and France.
The Meteor is a European medium-range air-to-air missile developed by a French, British, and Italian consortium. Turkey is reportedly seeking the missile as part of its planned acquisition of 40 Eurofighter Typhoon jets.
Following the relevant briefing of Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Georgios Gerapetritis, I met today at the Ministry of National Defence with the Ambassador of France, Ms. Laurence Auer, to request an official explanation regarding… pic.twitter.com/7z4gE57hsM
— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) January 29, 2025
This move, which would counter Greece’s recent acquisition of Rafale fighter jets, is raising tensions between Athens and Paris.
Dendias’ comments follow a briefing from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Georgios Gerapetritis.
Turkey has reportedly overcome objections from Germany to secure approval for the Eurofighter deal from other European nations.
However, Paris retains veto power over any missile export, which has created uncertainty in Greek-French relations, especially under their 2021 defence cooperation agreement.
Source: Ekathimerini.
