SYRIZA has accused the government of smuggling weapons into Ukraine.

The Minister of National Defense of Greece found himself in an uncomfortable position when the official opposition asked him about covert shipment of weapons to Ukraine.

The main opposition party in Greece, SYRIZA, accused the country’s leadership of secretly sending weapons to Ukraine. It is noteworthy that the parliamentarians learned about this not from their own government, but from US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who leaked this information on Twitter without hesitation.

I was delighted that more than 40 countries joined today’s virtual Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting. We had a highly productive set of discussions, and we welcomed a host of brand new security assistance announcements from literally all over the world: (1/5) pic.twitter.com/NHKgeZ5TAZ

— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) May 24, 2022

Several countries also announced today new donations of critically needed artillery systems and ammunition, including Italy 🇮🇹, Greece 🇬🇷, Norway 🇳🇴 and Poland 🇵🇱. (3/5)

— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) May 24, 2022

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin released several messages on his Twitter after a virtual meeting of military ministers at the Ramstein base, where military assistance to Ukraine was discussed.

He thanked Denmark for agreeing to donate the Harpoon launcher and missiles “to help Ukraine protect its coast.” Austin thanked the Czech Republic for providing Kyiv with helicopters, tanks and missile systems. Thanks also went to other countries including Greecefor the supply of shells and artillery

As it turned out, these deliveries were kept secret by the Greek authorities from their own parliament.

In a joint statement by the heads of the shadow national defense council SYRIZA-PS, represented by the head of the shadow government Alexis Tsipras, Minister of Defense Thodoros Dritsas and Minister of Foreign Affairs Georgios Katrougalos, the following statement was made: “Thus, the Minister of a third country informed us that our country has announced the dispatch to Ukraine of new heavier weapons, on which there is no information in Greece from the Parliament and the Greek people.”

The main opposition accused the prime minister of “already having in his briefcase for Washington an obligation to send new weapons in exchange for a warm welcome in Washington.”

The leaders of the main opposition posed the following questions to the government: “Sending more heavy weapons to Ukraine makes things even more difficult for our country in an evolving war. This is not what SYRIZA-PS says, this is what international law says. Does the Ministry of Defense know, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Megaro Maximos, what does this participation mean (in arms sales), or are they only interested in making the Prime Minister like Washington? When was such a very serious choice made? What procedures? Was there a meeting about this in ΚΥΣΕΑ? Who decided involve our country in a war with conscience And are they all right?”

Finally, they asked the Minister of Defense immediately inform the parties and parliament about what has happened by sending an urgent parliamentary inquiry to Nikos Panayotopoulos demanding to indicate “how many and what categories of weapons and ammunition of the Greek armed forces have been sent by the Greek government to Ukraine in the war to date, and whether there is a plan to continue these deliveries” .

This request, as aptly put in the publication “Efsin”which is considered pro-Syrizov, “caught the government of Mitsotakis with his pants down.”

The Minister of Defense of Greece, with a delay of several hours, was forced to respond to a parliamentary inquiry. In his statement, Nikos Panagiotopoulos stressed that “Greece, like all European countries, is helping Ukraine with military materials to protect itself from the attack it receives from Russia.”

“Defense equipment is provided from the reserves that the country has, and does not in the least weaken its defense capability,” the Greek defense minister added. “Greece cannot be an exception from other member countries EUwho are doing the same,” added the minister of national defense.

The aforementioned vague position of the Minister does not specify the main details, such as, for example, exactly what “defense materials were sent by our country to Ukraine”, while it does not explain at all why the government chose to keep this issue secret and confess to it after being “caught with red-handed.”

The authors of “Efsin” believe that the leadership of Greece continues the line of a “voluntary ally”, trying to please its overseas “patron”, since Athens is not obliged to provide this assistance. Moreover, by their voluntary participation in the supply of heavy weapons, Greece actually declares war on Russiabecause, according to international law, a country supplying weapons to the enemy during hostilities is equated to military ally of that party, with the corresponding legal consequences. This means that if the conflict escalates, Greece risks becoming a target for Russian nuclear weapons.

Recall that Greece is one of the first sent weapons to Ukraine at the end of February, shortly after the start of the conflict between the two countries. In particular, they arrived in Ukraine through Poland two S-130s with ammunition, Kalashnikovs and anti-tank missiles.

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