Opposition accuses prime minister of lying about sending weapons to Ukraine

Georgios Tsipras, deputy defense minister of the shadow cabinet of SYRIZA, accuses Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitostakis of “falsely answering the wrong question.”

Mr. Mitsotakis and his ministers constantly assert that “the whole of Europe sent weapons to Ukraine”, and therefore Greece could not “be left behind.” This is not true.

Statement by G. Tsipras:

Mitsotakis: A False Answer to the Wrong Question

“What the official opposition proposes, if we did not send weapons to Ukraine, would make Greece a European exception. There is not a single country in Europe that would not support Ukraine with defense equipment,” Prime Minister Kyryakos Mitsotakis said.

There are three countries, Cyprus, Hungary and Malta, which did not send any defense equipment. Three other countries – Austria, Bulgaria, Ireland – sent protective equipment such as helmetsbulletproof vests, etc. In any case, the prime minister’s repeated statement that “there is not a single country in Europe that does not support protective equipment” is obviously false.

But this is a small lie, which is designed to hide a much larger lie. This is not just a false answer, but a false answer to the wrong question. Because the first question is not whether we will be the exception, but why, on the contrary, we should have been the exceptiondeciding to belong to the first line of readiness next to such Russophobes “fanatics” as Poland.

If we add to the above countries Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, which sent only light weapons, then we get a total of nine countries out of 27, i.e. one third of the countries of the European Union, who either did not send any military equipment or sent very light weapons. The point is not only that Greece could belong to this group of countries, being no exception. The fact is that Greece was one of the first countriesdecided to send lethal weapons and, in proportion to their capabilities, chose to be at the forefront of several European countries in terms of heavy weapons, which she sent and will send. Even Poland, with its traditional Russophobia, has lagged behind Greece.

Given the condemnation of the Russian invasion and participation in the sanctions against Russia, what is the reason for Greece not just to send heavy weapons, but to be on this “front line”?

As for the impact on the country’s defense capability in such a crucial period, the Ministry of Defense has not yet given answers. Not a single military man will tell you that “we had too much, and we gave away too much.”

But the consequences for foreign policy in the long run will be more serious. The Foreign Ministry did not give any answers why we should be at the forefront along with countries that are actively involved in the war with Russia. Does the same apply to us? What exactly would you do with us if we didn’t send so many and such heavy weapons? Would we be the exception, since the Prime Minister made false excuses? Why such silence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after February 24?

As everything moves away from the main communicative narrative, the lack of accountability will become more and more evident. It will be clear that these actions are not based on the long-term interests of the country.

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