Main opposition calls on gov’t to brief MPs on German tank deal

Greece’s main opposition party, leftist SYRIZA, called on the ruling Conservatives to brief Parliament about a plan to send more Soviet-style weapons to Ukraine in exchange for the delivery of infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) from Germany.

The agreement was revealed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday after a two-day EU summit in Brussels. Scholz said he had struck an agreement with the Greek prime minister.

It is “unthinkable to be finding out about Greece’s dispatch of armed tanks to Ukraine from the German chancellor,” SYRIZA spokesman Nassos Iliopoulos said on Wednesday.

Speaking on Skai TV, Iliopoulos pointed out that the agreement between the Greek and German leaders that the former would send old tanks to Ukraine and have them replaced by the latter with newer ones “should have been made public to the Greek people, because it is not an insignificant issue by any means that Greece continues to send war material to Ukraine.”

“Greece is not Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ personal property to make such decisions on his own,” he added.

The main opposition spokesman asserted that Greece should support Ukraine and international law and send humanitarian help, “but not get militarily involved.”

[Kathimerini, AMNA]