Government sources in Athens on Thursday defended an agreement – officially revealed this week – to upgrade Greece’s fleet of US-made F-16 warplanes, countering that the deal will begin when the country exits its bailout program and that the price tag is 1.1 billion euros and not 2.4 billion USD – the figure cited in a US State Department memo to the US Congress.
The reaction by the government side comes as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and a coterie of top ministers wound up a nearly week-long visit to the United States. The visit’s highlight was a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, where the agreement was announced. The outspoken Trump, in fact, referred to the F-16 on four occasions and said it could create jobs in the US. The memo was dated Monday, Oct. 16, the day before Tsipras passed through the White House’s doors.
The timing and size of the defense contract generated a firestorm of criticism in Greece by the political opposition and raised eyebrows among the country’s institutional creditors.
In defending the agreement, the government side insisted that the actual cost for the Greek state will be 1.1 billion euros over a decade for the upgrading of between 85 and 95 fighter planes.
“The rest (of the sum) includes taxes and various off-set agreements that will be assumed by the US side,” was the reaction by the government.
