Greece to sign final deal with France on Belharra purchase
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Greece and France will sign a deal in the near future, to purchase three French Belharra frigates.
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The two governments agreed that Greece will purchase 24 Rafale fighter jets from France.
According to the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece and France have agreed on finalizing the former's purchase of three French Belharra frigates in the coming weeks, in addition to 6 Rafale jet fighters out of a total of 24.
"The first six Rafale aircraft will land at Tanagra Air Base in January, and a final agreement on the three Belharra frigates will be signed over the next few weeks," Mitsotakis said on Saturday, during parliament debates on the 2022 state budget.
Greece and France had signed a bilateral Strategic Partnership Agreement on September 28. Greece purchased three French Belharra frigates as part of the agreement, with the possibility to purchase one more in the future.
The Hellenic Navy expects that Belharra deliveries to Greece will be completed in 2025-2026.
French-Greek arms deal
Earlier, France's armed forces ministry told AFP that "since we have been in discussion with the Greeks, the American offer is no longer on the table," referring to a competing US offer threatening to overturn yet another deal for France after the US snatched a massive submarine contract for Australia in September, which sparked the AUKUS row between Washington, London, Canberra, and Paris.
"We also signed the contract with the Greeks. It was initialed a few days ago," the ministry said.
The Greek Prime Minister also commented on the deal, saying, "It has been done at the highest possible level."
Earlier in September, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sealed a memorandum of understanding with French President Emmanuel Macron to buy three and possibly four French Belharra frigates for three billion euros ($3.5 billion).
