The strategic agreement in fact provides for a mutual assistance clause by “all appropriate means” if the two countries “jointly note that an armed aggression occurs against the territory” of one of the two, according to the spokesperson for the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, Hervé Grandjean. “Our two countries have developed a very powerful alliance that goes beyond our mutual obligations” with regard to the EU and NATO, welcomed the Greek Prime Minister. France is one of the few EU countries to have publicly protested against these incursions in recent years. Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that this agreement answered “needs to” from Greece, which is stepping up its weapons program to counter Turkish provocations in the eastern Mediterranean. In addition to the ships, it includes the supply of their armaments and support services over three years. The amount of the contract to be signed “by the end of the year” is “of the order of three billion euros”, according to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. The agreement also includes a fourth optional frigate.
The three defense and intervention frigates (called Belharra for export) will be built in France by Naval Group in Lorient (Morbihan), to be delivered to the Greek navy in 20. In parallel, the two leaders established a “strategic partnership” in Mediterranean. This agreement was signed at the Elysee Palace between the French President and the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who insisted on its strategic European dimension while these two countries are members of NATO.
Ten days after the shock of the Australian submarine crisis, France signed an agreement to sell three frigates to Greece on Tuesday, September 28.
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