Foreign and National Defense Ministers Nikos Dendias and Nikos Panagiotopoulos left for Riyadh on an official visit, where they will sign an “Agreement on the settlement of the status of the Greek Armed Forces in Saudi Arabia”, through which Patriot air defense systems and calculations will be delivered to the country systems consisting of 100-120 people.
For Athens, according to the Greek government, participation in the Saudi air defense system is a political and operational priority, and Riyadh is particularly responsive to this plan. An example of Riyadh’s response is the participation of Saudi F-15s in an exercise in the Court in March last year, as well as in a May exercise.
Sources in the Ministry of National Defense, which drafted much of the agreement, indicated that it is a condition under which the Greek military will be able to join the multinational force of the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, France, Italy, Jordan and Pakistan to help strengthen protecting Saudi Arabia from terrorism.
From the Saudi Arabian side, there is a forecast of further improvement in relations with Greece in areas beyond defense, such as tourism, bilateral trade and investment. Ministers Panagiotopoulos and Dendias will be received by the heir to the throne, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is the Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister. In addition, they will meet with Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
The largest deal between Greece and Israel was closed last week. The contract amount was $ 1.65 billion and became the largest in the history of bilateral relations. In Greece, it is planned to create an international center for flight training and training of pilots of the Greek Air Force for 22 years. The center will be modeled on the Israel Air Force Flight Academy. The press service of the Israeli Defense Ministry said:
“The Israeli and Greek Defense Ministries have signed a contract worth NIS 5.5 billion for the establishment and operation of an international flight training center for Greek Air Force pilots for 22 years by the Israeli company Elbit Systems. This is the largest defense contract between the state of Israel and Greece to date. modeled on the Israel Air Force Flight Academy, an international flight training center will be established in Greece, equipped with ten Italian-made M-346 trainer aircraft, and the Greek Air Force T-6 aircraft will be upgraded.Elbit Systems will also provide training, simulators and logistics support “.
Over the past year and a half, Greece, fearing an aggressive and militarily stronger neighbor, Turkey, has sought to conclude military treaties with countries with which it has contradictions or disagreements, hoping for support in the event of a military conflict.
“The Israeli and Greek Defense Ministries have signed a contract worth NIS 5.5 billion for the establishment and operation of an international flight training center for Greek Air Force pilots for 22 years by the Israeli company Elbit Systems. This is the largest defense contract between the state of Israel and Greece to date. modeled on the Israel Air Force Flight Academy, an international flight training center will be established in Greece, equipped with ten Italian-made M-346 trainer aircraft, and the Greek Air Force T-6 aircraft will be upgraded.Elbit Systems will also provide training, simulators and logistics support “.
Over the past year and a half, Greece, fearing an aggressive and militarily stronger neighbor, Turkey, has sought to conclude military treaties with countries with which it has contradictions or disagreements, hoping for support in the event of a military conflict.
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