Greek Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis met today with French President E. Macron on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius.
There, according to the journalist Tassos Telloglou and ANTENA, the French side pursued two things in the Greek armaments program:
1. The acceptance by the Prime Minister of the construction of the 4th FDI Frigate, for which Greece has the possibility to buy on sight, i.e. at the same price as the others.
2. The acceptance of the French proposal for the Gowind Corvettes for the Greek Navy.
The same reporter reported that, on the issue of Corvettes for our navy, the US is reportedly closer than ever because of the economically viable proposal, causing concern in Paris.
Macron tried to convince Mitsotakis, with a reminder of the Greek-French defense agreement, assistance in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, while he will emphasize to Mitsotakis that Paris helped us during the difficult period of 2015 with the debt, reminding that our country belongs to the EU and participates in the PESCO organization, in which all the new weapon systems of the future EU army are being prepared.
The Americans have thrown on the table for the issue of Corvettes, FMS credits and surplus war material, which the Greek Army is interested in.
Whoever gets the job with the Corvettes, will have the opportunity to support the Greek navy for the next few years, which of course also concerns the French FDI frigates.
The French, as is natural after our country's decision on the Belhara, want to win the Corvette market as well, contracting the Greek naval forces.
The French Corvettes in the 3100 ton version are definitely a very good choice as long as everything goes well for the French side, and they will give serious possibilities to the Greek side in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
The French report that the Greek Corvettes will be formidable naval combat platforms, far superior to the Turkish ADA-class Corvettes, and on par with the Turkish "Istanbul" Frigates, with the neighbors' first Frigate being in the final stages.
But the American ships are also newly built and will have very powerful equipment that will make our Navy a very powerful naval force in the Mediterranean.
The third FDI is being getting ready in French shipyards
The Formion frigate is being prepared in the French shipyards according to journalist Christos Mazanitis and antena, as the French are trying to show their readiness on the Greek side, in an attempt to convince us of the new Corvettes.
Natural gas discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean and the planned EastMed pipeline play a key role in Greece's effort to equip itself with modern weapons, since the Turks are preparing to challenge our country with possible mining within the Greek EEZ, accompanied by Turkish warships.
