Greece ranks 1st in terms of spending in NATO

Greece is the leader in military spending in NATO after spending $8 billion on military equipment in 2021, which corresponds to 3.82% of its GDP!

It is worth noting that in terms of the amount allocated by our country, it surpassed even the United States (3.7%) in terms of the percentage of expenditures in relation to its GDP, and ranks first in the corresponding list among the member states of the military union.

2% is NATO’s recommended defense spending for bloc members.

Nikos Papanastasis, retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Special Forces, member of the KKE and member of the Standing Parliamentary Commission on National Defense and Foreign Affairs, comments Sputnik arms supply costs.

“Referring to the statement of the Minister of National Defense Nikos Panagiotopoulos during the budget discussion, who said that the country’s military spending is in line with NATO requirements, it becomes clear what the political direction of the government is, Mr. Papanastasis said. According to him, in all programs for the purchase of weapons submitted for approval to parliamentary committees, “it is directly indicated that they are made according to NATO requirements.” At the same time, Mr. Papanastasis emphasizes that in just 15 days, “expensive and large-scale weapons programs worth more than 1 billion euros” reached the parliamentary committees. All this, he continues, “practically means that the huge sums spent on the North Atlantic Alliance are not aimed at protecting Greece, but are trying to strengthen the position of the United States in competition with Russia and China. And we see that preparations are also underway for war in Ukraine“. An oxymoron of costs and supplies According to the deputy from the KKE, there is something “oxymoronic and schizophrenic” in state policy, since, on the one hand, “pharaonic” habits for the acquisition of fighters Rafale, frigates and other weapons systems worth 8 billion, and on the other hand, foreign policy is carried out topsy-turvy. “What can Rafale and all other weapons offer to the defense of the country, when at the same time it turns out that the Greek government decides to put on the table of preliminary contacts with Turkey its proposal to expand the territorial waters to 10 and 12 miles? “What can armaments do when the Greek-Turkish question and the Cyprus question are being debated according to NATO rules? The answer to all this is absolutely nothing.” At the same time, Mr. Papanastasis points out that the government does not want to protect the borders, makes grand military plans.”With the latest Greek-American agreement, the government is not only transferring its territory to Alexandroupoli, but is doing something much more, no matter how much Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias wants to claim that US and NATO troops,” will go there and line up on the European border, they are not aimed at Russia, “he added. Who wins? At the same time, the political leadership denies the fact that our country is leading an “arms race against Turkey, which also builds frigates, ships, submarines, drones” The beneficiaries of this are mainly the United States, the industrial establishment of France, Italy and Germany, but also NATO itself, which is building an army, which she didn’t have before. NATO is rudely demanding from its member states what it does not have. “The only loser is Greece, which pays, and the states that will bleed,” he added. At the same time, he expresses the opinion that the money that Greece gives to NATO could be redistributed between defense, health care and education. “Giving NATO 8 billion while the country bleeds from coronavirus and accuracy. Among all this, we must note that the fiesta with Rafale was staged at a time of poverty, excessive taxation and the energy crisis,” emphasizes the MP of the KKE. Why is the KKE voting against? The KKE votes against all these arms deliveries “which do not meet the needs of the Greek people”. “People want protection on their borders, but they don’t want weapons systems that will bleed other peoples in the wider area where they go,” Mr. Papanastasis said. “There is a false opinion that the KKE does not want to defend the borders, but the historical truth is one: the Communists were the first to fight for the borders and gave their lives for them against the Nazis when the bourgeoisie in the Second World War drank drinks in Cairo,” he concludes. PS From the editorial staff, I would like to recommend publication Andreas Moncurulias, where the author in an article titled Greece – USA: “The price of “tender” friendship” lifts the curtain on the real price of the defense agreement between Greece and the United States.

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