Greece to deploy Patriots to protect Bulgaria amid Iran war fears

ATHENS

Greece will deploy a Patriot missile battery and two F-16 jets in the north of the country to help defend neighbouring Bulgaria as the Middle East war flares, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said Friday.

Greece was ready "to help, if necessary, to preserve the sense of security in the wider region," Dendias said in a social media post.

The government deployed Patriot missiles Thursday to the island of Karpathos in the Dodecanese archipelago, near Türkiye's western coast, saying it wanted to strengthen the anti-ballistic protection of Greek territory.

Greece has since the start of the war also sent two frigates and four F-16 fighters to Cyprus after it was the target of an attack by an Iranian-made drone.

"A Patriot missile battery will be transferred in the coming hours... to the north of Greece to ensure anti-ballistic coverage for a large part of Bulgarian territory," Dendias said on ERT public television.

In addition, a pair of F-16 fighter jets will be transferred to an airport in northern Greece with the specific mission of offering additional aerial coverage for Bulgaria, Dendias added.

Two senior Greek military officers will be sent to Bulgaria's military operations centre.

Dendias said Greece would provide "all possible assistance for Bulgaria's ballistic missile defense against Iran", but did not give further details.

The minister said he had spoken with Bulgaria's defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov following a formal request for help from the Sofia government.

Bulgaria's defense ministry said the two ministers had also discussed NATO's order to strengthen "the preparation level of air-defense systems along the southeast flank" of the alliance. The ministry said Dendias would soon visit Sofia.