The decision was taken and a frigate of the Greek fleet will soon undertake a mission in the Red Sea where attacks by Houthi rebels against merchant ships are increasing, confirming what Pentapostagma has been writing since almost the beginning of the week.
National Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said specifically: "The international community faces a major security challenge in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region.
Attacks on merchant ships by armed groups, drones and missiles pose a huge threat to human lives, international security and stability, the global economy and the well-being of citizens.
Greece, the country with the largest maritime fleet, has a primary interest in preserving the freedom of the sea lanes and protecting the lives of seafarers.
On the instructions of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, I have asked the Chief of the General Staff of the National Defence General Konstantinos Floros and the Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, Vice Admiral Ioannis Drimousis PN, for a Greek Navy Frigate to participate in the multinational Operation "Prosperity Guardian", for the protection of merchant ships, the lives of seafarers and the global economy.
I also informed the Egyptian side on this issue during my last visit to Cairo.
It goes without saying that the frigate which will participate in the operation has the necessary means of self-protection.
Around 30% of world trade passes through the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. Greek shipping companies own 24.41% of the tankers in the world fleet.
Changing the route around Africa instead of Suez will lengthen journey times by up to two weeks. This will significantly increase the operating costs of the ships with an increase in the price of the products to the final consumer.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis noted in this regard, "Greece, with the largest shipping fleet, has a primary interest in maintaining the freedom of the waterways and protecting the lives of seafarers."
The decision provoked reactions from the opposition parties with the president of SYRIZA, Stefanos Kasselakis, stating: "The government's decision to send a frigate to the naval operation "Prosperity Guardian" in the Red Sea, puts the Greek armed forces at risk in an operation that is being carried out as part of an initiative of "volunteers" and not of an international organization in which the country participates.
The priority for the Greek armed forces must be to defend the sovereignty and sovereign rights of Greece. Beyond that, the country's role in the wider region - in addition to fulfilling its commitments as a member state of the UN, the EU and NATO - should not focus on developing its military presence, but on its diplomatic role as a pillar of peace and stability.
There are clearly serious security and navigational challenges in the region, especially in the Gulf of Aden, which have deteriorated rapidly in the wake of the war in Gaza.
In addition to military initiatives, the international community must focus on diplomatic actions for peace in order to address these challenges. Greece and the EU in general can and must play a crucial role in this context.
The Communist Party of Greece commented: "The dispatch of a Greek frigate to the Red Sea, under the pretext of safety of navigation and protection of merchant ships, involves the country even more deeply in the dangerous imperialist plans which at this stage are directly linked to the support of the murderous policy of the state of Israel.
Both this mission and other missions of Greek warships, in the Eastern Mediterranean and elsewhere, in the framework of NATO formations, prove what the real purpose of the supply of warships and other armament programmes that the Greek people pay for in gold is.
Greek ships or other military units have no business in missions that have nothing to do with the defence of the country and the protection of its borders. All involvement must stop now!"
The Hellenic Solution Party noted: "The government, after spreading false news about its good deeds, continues to spread weapon systems around the world at a time when "crude threats" of an invasion of Greece are being made in Turkey.
The New Democracy party, after sending the very expensive Patriot array to Saudi Arabia and (secretly) the Stingers, valuable for the defence of the islands, to Kiev, is now sending a frigate to the Red Sea!
The government has turned Greece into the joy of the Funds, the oligarchs and the obscene capitalist capital, since it sells everything "for a plate of lentils". The Economist's 'first country' is the only country in the world whose prime minister ignores the concept of 'public interest' and his institutional duty to 'safeguard public property'."
Immediately a group of Greek officers will go to Bahrain where the coordination of the armada that is being assembled on the initiative of the US is located and the frigate that will be selected will sail.
However, as it comes from the capabilities of the ship that Greece will send, which will be at best one of the 4 MEKO frigates, is that Athens will participate more in order to show flag and interest in the developments in the region than for the protection of merchant ships as Greek frigates are not capable of air defense of area but point. Its ESSM anti-aircraft missiles have a range of just over 50 km. They also have electronic warfare means in order to jam incoming Houthi missiles or drones but essentially for a small area. Certainly no one is looking for the Greek navy with the antiquity of its ships to undertake missions like the American fleet but in any case the naval prowess of the Greeks will once again make the difference. We hope so.
