Greece lobbies France for help in limiting Turkish access to EU defence deals – Euractiv

ATHENS – Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias expressed his concerns about Turkey’s participation in Europe’s new defence push at a meeting with his French counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu.

The meeting on Monday took place amid growing concerns in Athens that neighbouring Turkey will take part in the EU’s new “ReArm Europe” plan, which aims to boost investments in defence.

That particularly rankles in Greece, an EU country with long-standing tensions with Turkey, despite both countries being members of the NATO alliance.

Commission sources told Euractiv last week that under the SAFE regulation, Turkey could immediately provide up to 35% of a defence product to the EU funded through the programme, although a Security and Defence Partnership and subsequent association agreement would be needed to increase industrial participation beyond 35%.

Practically, Athens is looking for allies in the Council in order to make it stricter for Turkey to make use of the 35% participation. But amendments to the SAFE regulation would require a qualified majority at the EU level, and Paris’ support will be crucial.

For his part, Lecornu said at a press conference on Monday that Europe must take its fate into its own hands, always respecting the particularities of each member state.

He added that the security interests of all EU member states must be fully respected and there should be clear eligibility criteria for the participation of third countries.

“Greece is not threatening, but is being threatened,” Dendias said at the same press conference.

Among other points of conflict between Greece and Turkey, Ankara has threatened Athens with possible military action if Athens tries to extend its territorial waters to the full extent allowed under the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Greece and France have been traditional allies. In 2021, they signed a bilateral military agreement that provides mutual assistance in the event of one party coming under attack by a third country, even if the latter belongs to NATO. That deal was widely seen as aimed at Turkey.

Dendias expressed his hope for the renewal of the military agreement.

“Greece is always confident that France will take into account in its decisions Greece’s security and the need for Greece to maintain a comparative technological advantage of deterrence against the forces of revisionism,” the Greek politician said, referring to Turkey.

Other EU members such as Poland and the Baltic countries, however, have been open to cooperation with Turkey’s robust defence industry.

Diplomats say that Turkish weapons systems have been proven in battle for years, and Turkish-produced products are often also cheaper.

In Brussels, a Commission official deferred on questions about Turkish involved in defence deals: “As regards to Members States, the Commission cannot comment on what they decide to do or not [on third countries’ participation].”

On Monday, Dendias and Lecornu also discussed the establishment of a local office of the French Naval Group in Greece, as well as the possible cooperation between Greece and France in the MAMBA anti-aircraft systems which are in the research and development stage,

Those conversations come against the backdrop of Greece’s ambitions to spend billions on a ‘Shield of Achilles’ missile defence system modelled on Israel’s famed “Iron Dome”, a project recently announced by Dendias.