Leftist opposition refuses to back US defense deal

Leftist opposition leader Alexis Tsipras has said his SYRIZA party will not support a defense deal between Greece and the United States, while accusing the conservative government of making sweeping concessions to Washington without gaining anything in return.

Speaking in Parliament Thursday ahead of a vote on the ratification of the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA), Tsipras accused the New Democracy administration of green-lighting the utilization of Greek military facilities by American forces for an indefinite period of time and of conceding the northern port of Alexandroupoli to the US amid the war in Ukraine without receiving any meaningful benefits in return. 

Tsipras said that Greece is being reduced to a “US satellite” at a time when Washington appears ready to reward Turkey with new weapons and military equipment.

The SYRIZA chief was referring to reports that the Biden administration has asked congressional leaders to approve the sale of advanced weapons and other equipment for Turkey’s fleet of F-16 jet fighters.

“Where is your national pride?,” Tsipras told New Democracy lawmakers, adding that his party will seek to renegotiate the MDCA if it becomes government.

“We are sending weapons to Ukraine on the recommendation of the US, while the US is sending new F-16s to fly over the Greek islands,” he said.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis earlier defended the deal in Parliament describing it as “a vote of confidence in Greece as an unshakeable element of stability, as a prudent European and NATO partner that guarantees international legality in the face of any crises stirred by our neighbors.”