Greece is getting three warships for the price of two, says Panagiotopoulos

Greece is getting three warships for the price of two, Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said on Wednesday, referring to the Greek-French defense deal worth 2.9 billion euros.

“We are getting three frigates at a price that is lower than what we agreed last year for two frigates,” Panagiotopoulos told SKAI TV.

He added that it the agreement went “far beyond” the three modern frigates, which he described as “new age digital ships.” The short delivery time of the ships was also an advantage, he said.

Referring to the possibility of Greece acquiring new corvettes, he said that negotiations will start on that issue. “Now that we have come this far, I hope there will be good news soon,” he said.

He added the acquisition of the frigates was not an aggressive move on Greece’s part towards Turkey.

“We want to be able to defend territorial integrity and sovereign rights through deterrence.”