News Greece to sign agreement to transfer and operate Patriot anti-aircraft system in Saudi Arabia

[Test7]

Greece will sign an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the transfer, installation and operation of a Greek Patriot anti-aircraft system, said Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.

“This is not an offensive weapon, but a defensive weapon that we will give to Saudi Arabia,” he said during a discussion in a Parliamentary Committee about his bill to reorganise the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Greece to send and operate Patriot system in Saudi Arabia.


“Our country has not pursued and never pursues an aggressive policy,” clarified Dendias.

At the same time, the Foreign Minister declared “absolutely open to improvement proposals” on the bill, noting that “no one claims the infallibility”, while acknowledging that the budget of his ministry “is meager.”

Dendias also pledged that the bill “will address the problem of insurance coverage of Greek diplomats serving outside the EU, providing a solution, even on a case-by-case basis.”

Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.


“I hold the unequivocal note on the need to increase the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I share this view,” he said.

Responding to remarks on the organisational part of the bill submitted by opposition parties, Dendias said he listened to them “very carefully.”

He emphasised that “it is not the whole of the reform – this is just the first phase of the digital transformation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Greece To Sign Agreement To Transfer And Operate Patriot Anti-aircraft System In Saudi Arabia

Greece will sign an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the transfer, installation and operation of a Greek Patriot anti-aircraft system, said Foreign Minister

greekcitytimes.com

 

[Waz]

They seem like very good mates now.

 

[Turko]

Then what are we supposed to do? To Transfer s400 to an another gulf country? İt seems to me kinda precondition of the peace agreement.

 

[Anmdt]

US (Biden here) doesn't desire to sell weapons to KSA since he/they know/s this would oppose to their voter's will.

Probably they will withdraw deployed US patriots from KSA as well.

So US instead ,in the background, has brokered the deal, promising Greece a protection, deploying US assets when needed.

Meanwhile pleased both parties at once, and tripled it by satisfying the voters.

 

[Foulgrim]

Normally the MIM-104 Patriot PAC 3 had to stay in Greece. What is the role of an anti-counter-ballistic system in Saudi Arabia? I do not think there are too many arrays to take them for a walk in third countries.

 

[Turko]

US (Biden here) doesn't desire to sell weapons to KSA since he/they know/s this would oppose to their voter's will.

Probably they will withdraw deployed US patriots from KSA as well.

So US instead ,in the background, has brokered the deal, promising Greece a protection, deploying US assets when needed.

Meanwhile pleased both parties at once, and tripled it by satisfying the voters.

Why Greece why not Spain ? Greece is the last country which would want to deplete own air defence umbrella. The country because of defense budget got bankrupt would give any weapons?

 

[Anmdt]

I dont know that, other people who understands politics better may comment on it.

 

[Foulgrim]

Why Greece why not Spain ? Greece is the last country which would want to deplete own air defence umbrella. The country because of defense budget got bankrupt would give any weapons?

Because the Greek government is making strategic choices for the United States as a NATO member. The Greek MIM-104 Patriot PAC 3 battery will be sent to Saudi Arabia as part of geostrategic aid between the two countries against Iran. But we as Greece do not have good or bad relations with Iran because geographically it is very far from our region! Normally another NATO member country would have to send the anti-aircraft ballistic missile. The Greek government believes that this move will create geopolitical pressure on Turkey due to the fact that Saudi Arabia has had bad relations with it lately.

 

[Test7]

The Greek government believes that this move will create geopolitical pressure on Turkey due to the fact that Saudi Arabia has had bad relations with it lately.

I doubt that S. Arabia could be a very influential country in the region. I don't know what the view looks like from Greece but there are only a few effective countries that can change the general equation for the region. You can be sure that Arabia is not among them.

Biden avoids engaging with MBS- Saudi Arabia

Biden’s snub of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a ‘warning’ signaling a relationship downgrade Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is Saudi Arabia’s 35-year-old heir to the throne and arguably the most powerful man in the region. President Joe Biden early on promised to take a harder...

defencehub.live

 

[Foulgrim]

I doubt that S. Arabia could be a very influential country in the region. There are only a few effective countries that can change the general equation for the region. You can be sure that Arabia is not among them.

Biden avoids engaging with MBS- Saudi Arabia

Biden’s snub of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a ‘warning’ signaling a relationship downgrade Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is Saudi Arabia’s 35-year-old heir to the throne and arguably the most powerful man in the region. President Joe Biden early on promised to take a harder...

defencehub.live

In economic terms, Saudi Arabia has a special power in the region. Of course, we will see the geopolitical position of Saudi Arabia in more detail with Biden's policy as he now has a strange attitude towards them lately. Saudi Arabia is considered the country with the most money spent on weapons systems as it gives 8% of its GDP (61.9 billion dollars), you are also considered the best customer of the USA! The financial benefits are huge, especially when Saudi Arabia can support such large expenditures due to its very large oil reserves. Saudi Arabia has the most modern and expensive anti-aircraft ballistic system on the planet at the moment. Another major blow to the Turkish economy is the embargo imposed on Saudi Arabia by various products. They may officially say that the embargo does not apply but in fact it is here. Recently, Saudi Arabia has been reaching out to Qatar for reconciliation, which means two thing
1) Qatar sees its relations with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait etc. differently exposing their friendship with Turkey
2) The Arab countries of the Middle East are trying to bridge their relations with Qatar and consequently with Turkey itself
Surely time will tell what applies

 

[Test7]

Greek Patriot missile system in Saudi Arabia: Agreement to be signed on April 20​

Relations between Greece and Saudi Arabia are at their highest level.

Not only did Saudi F-15 fighter jets arrive in Souda Bay for co-training with Greek fighter jets, nor just the visit of Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Riyadh on February 2020, nor only the continuous meetings of Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias with his Saudi counterpart.

It is mainly the decision to lend a Greek Patriot-type anti-aircraft system to Saudi Arabia, a decision that reveals how much the level of cooperation and understanding between Athens and Riyadh has improved.

Next week, likely on April 20 as Proto Thema was informed, Dendias and Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos will travel in Riyadh to formalize the agreement to transfer Greek Patriot missile systems to the Arab country.

The Saudis will cover transportation and operation costs of the Patriot battery from Greece, and will also finance the upgrade of the Greek anti-aircraft systems to the PAC-3 version.

Greece’s agreement with Saudi Arabia will include the necessary Air Force personnel, at least 40 officers and non-commissioned officers, who will be transferred to the Arab country and will be in charge of the Patriot system.

With the transfer of the Greek Patriot system, a purely defense system, Athens aspires to further forge bilateral relations with Riyadh as it does methodically with Abu Dhabi.

In fact, a tripartite cooperation meeting of Cyprus, Greece and the United Arab Emirates is planned for the near future, with which Athens has concluded a mutual defence assistance clause with on November 22, 2020.

Greek Patriot Missile System In Saudi Arabia: Agreement To Be Signed On April 20

Relations between Greece and Saudi Arabia are at their highest level.

greekcitytimes.com