Tsipras: “We will vote for the purchase of frigates, but we will not give carte blanche to all weapons”

The leader of the main opposition party, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, Alexis Tsipras, told parliament that his party supported the purchase of new frigates, but was not ready to give the government “carte blanche” on all spending on arms purchases.

“No one doubts the importance of increasing the country’s deterrent capacity, but it’s arrogance to shake a finger at us because we won’t give you carte blanche,” Tsipras said during a debate on Tuesday to approve defense agreements on Rafale fighters, Belh@ frigates rra from France and torpedoes from Germany

He noted that the country’s defense cannot “stand if it does not serve a coordinated foreign and economic policy.” He also accused the prime minister of using statements and opinions from the opposition out of context in political debates, and also criticized the government’s policy of raising prices, saying that “it leaves society unprotected.”

As an example of the “slipping tactic” adopted by the government, Tsipras cited the prime minister’s response to accusations by the mainstream opposition that the government had spent €5.0bn on outright arms purchases, when Mitsotakis asked if that included the purchase of Rafale fighter jets.

The prime minister spoke of prudent governance “at a time when you voted for seven billion weapons – seven billion without a single euro spent on the defense industry,” Tsipras added.

He also urged the prime minister not to use defense issues for political purposes, criticizing a video by the ruling New Democracy that presented the purchase of Rafale aircraft not as a national treasure, but “with the ND party logo”, alluding to the controversial Rafale commercialrepresented by the “New Democracy”.

Έρχονται. ????#Rafale pic.twitter.com/uYOOfBP1rt

— ΝΕΑ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ (@neademokratia)

Έρχονται. 🇬🇷🇫🇷#Rafale pic.twitter.com/uYOOfBP1rt

— ΝΕΑ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ (@neademokratia) January 18, 2022

“>January 18, 2022

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