ATHENS — The Greek government is fiercely lobbying France to halt the sale of radar-guided, air-to-air Meteor missiles to Turkey.
The potential sale led the agenda of a meeting Monday between French President Emmanuel Macron and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paris on the sidelines of the global Artificial Intelligence Action Summit, according to Greek government officials.
Athens is trying to halt the sale, fearing it would endanger its recently acquired air superiority in the eastern Mediterranean.
Greece has bought 24 French-made Rafale fighter jets, but Turkey can’t easily match that after it was expelled from the F-35 program in 2019 after buying Russia’s S-400 air defense system.
Instead, Ankara now aims to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets — 20 used ones from the United Kingdom and 20 new ones — and wants them equipped with Meteors. The missiles are made by Paris-based European arms-maker MBDA.
Despite being NATO allies, Athens and Ankara have been at odds for years over a number of bilateral squabbles, including maritime boundaries, overlapping claims to their continental shelves and Cyprus.
In late January, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias summoned the French ambassador in Athens, Laurence Auer, requesting “an official update on reports about the sale.”
“I expressed to the French ambassador the strong opposition of Greece to such a possibility, which is not in line with the excellent strategic relations between the two countries,” Dendias said in his post on platform X.
Seeking to ease Athens’ concerns, a French diplomat told Greek media that the U.K., not France, is leading talks on the deal.
The French diplomat also pointed to a major military deal signed in 2021 between Athens and Paris, which included a clause on mutual defense assistance.
The same line was echoed during the meeting between the Macron and Mitsotakis on Monday.
“The French President reaffirmed to the Greek prime minister France’s commitment to the Franco-Greek strategic partnership, and to Greece’s security,” according to a readout of the meeting from the French presidency.
Despite Greece’s concerns, several EU countries are moving ahead with arms sales with Turkey.
Athens is also preparing a formal protest against Italy over its defense agreement with Turkey. Greece argues that Rome bypassed European regulations by approving the sale of Piaggio Aerospace to Turkey’s Baykar without notifying EU partners, according to Greek newspaper Kathimerini.
Greece strongly protested Germany’s ongoing €2.5 billion deal for six submarines to Ankara.
Spain contributed to the construction of the Turkish aircraft carrier Anadolu, while in December the two sides signed an agreement for the Jet Trainer Aircraft Project.
In the meantime, the United States Congress may revisit Turkey’s participation in the F-35 fighter jet program, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
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