Berlin’s qualified “nein” to the timely disbursement of the last loan tranche of the current Greek bailout – itself ending on Aug. 20 – apparently generated quick action in Athens less than a day later, with the country’s controversial defense minister referring to spending cuts by his ministry in order to retain lower VAT rates on five Aegean isles – at least until 2019.
Panos Kammenos, the head of the small right-wing junior coalition partner in the current government, referred to a “restructuring” of military units with their “transfer to the border region and the axing of inactive military bases”. His also cited a cut in older defense contracts, all part of breakneck efforts by the Greek side to find 28 million euros in spending cuts, in order off-set the same sum that the VAT suspension would have cost state coffers until the end of the year.
In a bid to portray the urgent defense cuts – via unit transfers and base reductions – in a positive light, Kammenos took to his Twitter account on Friday morning to emphasize that “the islands are the Defense of our Land”.
