Greece to buy two Italian frigates

ATHENS

Greece will buy two Italian Bergamini frigates “to reinforce its naval capabilities”, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on May 24, as the NATO member ramps up defense spending.

Besides the two new ships, Greece’s foreign affairs and defense council has approved the modernization of the country’s existing German-made ThyssenKrupp MEKO frigates and an update to the armed forces’ encryption software, Mitsotakis added.

The purchases must be rubber-stamped by the Greek parliament, where the conservative prime minister’s New Democracy party enjoys an absolute majority.

In response to the security woes besetting the Middle East, across the Mediterranean from Greece, Athens has sought to bolster its armed forces.

Historically a significant client of both US and European arms manufacturers, Greece is one of four NATO countries to devote more than three percent of GDP to defence, behind Poland, Estonia and Latvia.

Recently, Greece renewed its defense cooperation agreement with France and expanded bilateral ties across multiple sectors.

The updated agreement includes a mutual defense assistance clause, under which both countries commit to support each other in the event of a threat to their sovereignty.

Greece announced plans to spend a total of 25 billion euros ($30 billion) through 2036 in what Mitsotakis has called the “most drastic” defense overhaul in modern Greek history.

The drive, which includes a new anti-missile, anti-aircraft and anti-drone defensive dome called “Achilles’s Shield,” is aimed at addressing rapidly changing geopolitical challenges and fraying transatlantic ties, the government has said.