ISSUE
The President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou is currently in South America. She first visited Uruguay at the invitation of her counterpart, Luis Lacaille Pou. And since the day before yesterday he is in Chile, following the invitation of the country’s president, Gabriel Boric. In Uruguay, Mrs. Sakellaropoulou, in addition to the official contacts she had with her counterpart, also visited the “Maria Tsakos” Foundation, where she was welcomed by Panagiotis Tsakos, who presented her with the foundation’s work. In Santiago, Mrs. Sakellaropoulou was guided, among other things, to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, dedicated to the victims of the dictatorial regime (1973-1990).
THE DILEMMA
For fighters. In Ankara, it seems that the very delicate balances that are being attempted to be maintained with all partners, while Turkey follows its own, distinct path in the international arena, are causing concern for the future of various armament programs. Given that Turkey has a high degree of autonomy at all levels, with the exception of aviation, it makes sense to try to keep all options open. Among them, the Eurofighter fighters, which are a joint production of the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Germany. The latter has not yet lifted the export embargo. Yesterday, sources in Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense said that “it is not right for allies to impose restrictions or sanctions on each other and that it is against the spirit of the alliance.” While they added that “our expectation is that our allies will take decisions in accordance with the spirit of the alliance and the common security perspective, and will remove all implicit or explicit restrictions.” The same sources expressed the hope that “the issue of the Eurofighter will be a good start, which is why we expect a positive approach from Germany”. It is, of course, no coincidence that these leaks took place after the meeting between the presidents of Turkey and Germany.
THE FACE
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis (photo) indirectly confirmed the yesterday’s revelation of “K” on the French request for the transfer of a Crotale-type anti-aircraft system to France, in order to cover infrastructure or facilities during the Paris Olympic Games. “If our allies are requested for a specific period of time, in this case the Olympic Games, some specific assistance that does not affect the defense capacity of the country in any way, this will be done, but always after coordination and agreement between the two sides. But we always talk, I make it clear, for a limited specific period of time”, said Mr. Marinakis in response to a related question. Interestingly, the Crotales are old systems, protecting critical Air Force and Navy infrastructure and, like all French systems until recently, faced maintenance issues. About a year ago, an agreement was signed for their support and, in any case, the French are asking for it on the grounds of their own deficiencies after the sending of anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine. I learn, however, that for Crotale there is a green light from the government, both at the level of Megaros Maximos and at the level of the Ministry of National Defense.
THE PLACE
The (Persian) Gulf, from where – finally – the Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis is returning. As I informed you, in the previous days Mr. Gerapetritis had a dense program of contacts in Qatar and Kuwait, with an obvious priority being the discussions on the crisis in the Middle East and its effects, existing and possible. Since the crisis in the Middle East actually started while Mr. Gerapetritis was already a minister, there is a special sensitivity to this situation in his office. In fact, Mr. Gerapetritis considers that this ease of communication that Athens has with all actors in the wider region, can give Athens some “points” in the international field. Of course, investments are always on the “radar” of these visits, but it seems that Mr Gerapetritis also sees the big picture. Let’s see.
THE ATTACK
“Mr Mitsotakis is talking about reductions in food prices that only he sees, when in the month of March Greece had the second highest food inflation among the countries of the Eurozone, which is more than three times the European average”. This is what PASOK’s parliamentary representative, Michalis Katrinis, said about an issue that concerns everyone even when they don’t talk about it. No one escapes everyday life.
