By Angelos Anastasiou
GREEK Defence minister Panos Kammenos’ suggestion that Cyprus buys fighter jets left his Cypriot counterpart – and high-ranking military men in attendance – underwhelmed as the cash-strapped island cannot possibly shoulder the expense, local media reported on Friday.
Kammenos was in Cyprus on an official visit from Tuesday to Thursday, in the course of which he met with various government officials and the local Greek army regiment.
His proposal for Cyprus to buy military jets appears to have been made during a private session with host Defence minister Christoforos Fokaides and the Cypriot and Greek army’s top brass.
But media reports said the reaction to Kammenos’ assertion was one of astonishment as Cyprus, still struggling to cope financially after an unprecedented banking and economic collapse in 2013, could not possibly bear the expense of buying aircraft worth tens of millions of euros each.
Defence ministry officials could not be reached for comment.
During the visit, Kammenos offered remarks that raised a few eyebrows. He told the soldiers of the Greek regiment ELDYK that they were part of an “offensive unit” that “in the fullness of time will be the unit that will plant the flag of freedom in the occupied areas”.
And in a speech shortly after his arrival, he left open the prospect of resuming the Joint Defence Doctrine, a long-abandoned defence agreement between Greece and Cyprus dating back to 1993.
“There will be planning that you will see in the coming months in connection to the rearrangement of relations, through practical cooperation and the permanent presence of officers from both sides in each country,” he said.
Kammenos, leader of right-wing Independent Greeks party, was given the Defence portfolio by newly-elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras after an unlikely coalition between radical-left Syriza and the openly nationalistic Independent Greeks enabled the formation of a government.
The new Defence minister has been the subject of public ridicule at various times since his young party was formed in 2012, most commonly on raising questions relating to popular conspiracy theories like chemtrails and the role of the Bildenberg Club.
Prior to forming a coalition government with Syriza, Kammenos’ party had frequently adopted right-wing rhetoric, often railing against illegal immigration and more recently in favour of resuming Greece’s armaments programme, although both parties were united in their Euroscepticism and fervent opposition to troika-imposed austerity measures.
