Washington blackmailing Athens over S-300s: Greek media
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government is pushing back against American pressure to 'immediately' disable its missile defense system
Washington is reportedly pressuring NATO allies Athens to disable Russian-made S-300 defense systems, leading Greek media to label the recent US attempts as “blackmail” in an article published by the Pentapostagma.
According to the report, the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is pressing against American pressure to deactivate its missile defense system “immediately” because the S-300 in question “do not cause any problems”.
“We want to expand bilateral relations, but we cannot be asked to deactivate the system. The S-300 do not cause any problems,” Mitsotakis is said to have said when asked by the Americans.
This comes after years of US pressure on Turkey to abandon its deal to buy the advanced S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, leading Ankara to point out Washington’s double standards in dealing with neighboring Greece over its own S-300.
The S-300 system, completed in 1978, serves to defend against air attacks at short and medium distances and is considered to be one of the most powerful air defense systems in the world.
Russia sold the S-300 system to 20 countries including NATO member states such as Bulgaria, Greece and Slovakia.
The Kardak crisis in the Aegean Sea, which erupted in the last days of 1995 and peaked in January 1996, became a turning point in Greece’s defense strategy.
Greece failed to hold its own against Turkey in its Kardak Islands claim and concluded that the proportional arms sales the US made to both sides of the Aegean Sea (i.e. Greece and Turkey) attempted to strike a balance between the two Countries do not meet its needs.
The first step Athens took in this regard in 1996 was the signing of an agreement with Russia to purchase the S-300 air defense system for use on Greek Cypriot soil.
Under Turkish pressure, these rockets could not be stationed in southern Cyprus, but were stationed in 1998 on the Greek island of Crete, whose strategic importance is steadily increasing.
Αμερικανικός εκβιασμός προς Ελλάδα: ''Απενεργοποιήστε τους S-300''!
Πρωτοφανές!
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