Everything that is built at the ministry is built with private donations, not with Greek taxpayer money, said Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias, during a discussion with the director of naftemporiki.gr Michalis Psilos, in the context of the 4th Economic Conference of Naftemporiki held at the Zappeion Mansion.
He also expressed his gratitude to Evangelos Mytilineos for the donation regarding the facade of the Ministry of Defense and focused on symbolism, speaking about the modernization of the Armed Forces.
Asked about German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to Ankara and Turkey’s defense reinforcement, he said that he was not going to tell Germany how to conduct its foreign policy. However, as he stressed, the military aspirations of the Western world do not resemble those of Ankara.
He stressed that “recently it has tried to round off corners”, but added that “the Islamic approach on the part of the Turkish government is not decreasing”.
Dendias emphasized that “President Erdogan has managed to transform Turkey, he has made huge leaps, but the question that the Western world must answer is whether the direction he has given Turkey is compatible with the interests and values of the West.”
He also noted that Turkey has indeed sold Bayraktar drones to many countries, however, as he said, “we have the best anti-drone system for Bayraktars, the Centauros.”
In fact, he mentioned that there is interest from 2 countries to purchase the Centaur system.
In response to a question from Michalis Psilos about Turkey’s efforts to secure European taxpayers’ money, he said that for the financing of 100% of Turkish products by SAFE, the regulation does not set a unanimity requirement. “However, there is a commitment from the Commission to unanimity. I consider it self-evident that the Commission will keep the commitment,” he stressed.
“What the Prime Minister is saying is the self-evident. How will a country that has expressed a threat of war participate in a European financial instrument?” he asked.
