Dendias: Greece will lend air defense system to France if written request is made

Greece will lend France a short-range surface-to-air missile system for the duration of the Olympic Games in Paris if it requests the same in writing, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias has said.

“If France formulates in writing its verbal request for the provision of the Crotale [surface-to-air missile system] for the protection of Paris for the Olympic Games, our country will consent,” Dendias said in Thessaloniki, after a meeting with the Central Macedonia regional governor, Apostolos Tzizikostas.

“Woe betide if we, the country that has signed a defense agreement with the French Republic, do not help the Olympic Games that represent everything Greek in this world,” said Dendias, underlining that Greece has sufficient systems for its own defense.

Earlier this week, sources told Kathimerini that the French are suggesting that if Paris intends to provide anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, it needs the allied assistance to ensure the air defense of critical infrastructure within the capital city hosting the Olympic Games.

Commenting on the issues of weapons systems that may be transferred to Ukraine, the minister said that “Patriots will not be transferred. S-300s will not be transferred. The country is not going to be deprived of what is necessary for its defense and the protection of the core interests of our homeland.”