Is Abrams heading to Greece?

Window of opportunity for equipment from the U.S. opened a visit to Washington Avramopoulos
Dora Antoniou

The aversion of U.S. Defense Secretary, Leo Panetta, to the Minister of National Defence, Dimitris Avramopoulos, “Ask whatever you need” to their meeting on Tuesday in Washington, has opened an important window of opportunity for the Greek armed forces in order to benefit from the renewal of the U.S. Armed Forces equipment

According to U.S. sources, 400 chariots Abrams, who had initially offered the U.S., already increased to 500. There are also 700 armored personnel carriers, type M113, a significant number of vehicle type Hummer, and the program will be extended to include a specialized vehicles for specific missions, and aerial, with the first conciliation on Apache helicopters. The final consultation will take place between the Chief of Defence, Gen. Michael Kostarakis and chief of U.S. armed forces, Martin Dempsey, who launched a direct telephone line, while the already formed committees to move the U.S. to examine the situation of the to concession equipment. The important thing about Athens is that he managed to overcome the obstacle of high transport costs, which will be met with offers expatriates and businessmen.

Particularly important finding from the visit of Mr. Avramopoulos is that Washington continues to consider Greece an important ally in the region, in a time of great upheaval and prolonged turmoil. The developments of the last years, focusing on so-called Arab Spring, were added to a number of factors that make the southeastern Mediterranean extremely important for the American side: geopolitics, remains a hub for energy and transport. It is also point of particular interest to the U.S., and adjacent to the open front of the Afghanistan and Iraq, where the situation remains extremely fragile, with the area of ​​international business development to combat piracy off Somalia and, of course the locations where planned to develop the first phase of a missile shield for Iran. Moreover, in the southeastern Mediterranean recorded some of the most exciting developments internationally, in identifying new energy reserves.

All these data, see the Ministry of National Defense, form the framework for significant deepening American relations. Mr. Avramopoulos, at his meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Leo Panetta, heard the thanks of the American side for Greece’s contribution to addressing the crisis in Libya. For his part, assured that the Greek armed forces, despite the ordeal of the economic crisis, remain the most reliable military machine in the area and can operate effectively in business for security and stability. This assurance is particularly important at this time, the risk of ignition in Syria is very large.

The missile shield

For the design of a missile shield, which Washington has requested assistance from Greek, Athens, given the importance of the issue, transfer finalize decisions until after the elections, message conveyed by the Minister of Defense counterpart.

Mr. Panetta confirmed the great interest of the U.S. side to approach Greece – Israel and discussed with Mr. Avramopoulos issue, but the crisis in relations between Turkey – Israel. The U.S. encourages cooperation with Israel, and considered it important stabilizing factor for the region.