Pangalos: missile order was a ‘colossal mistake’

EVEN with the contracts for their deployment to Crete fully signed and sealed, the spectre of the S-300 missiles refuses to go away, with bitter exchanges yesterday between Greece and Cyprus as to who exactly knew about the original purchase deal.

Speaking on CyBC television, President Glafcos Clerides said that Greece had been fully informed of the Cypriot plans to purchase the S-300s; in fact, Cyprus had only decided to go for the S-300s after Greece suggested it.

He added that, even if Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis had not been fully aware of Cypriot intentions, his defence ministry certainly was. At the time, he said, Cyprus had been looking at buying other, smaller weapons systems from Russia, but had decided to plump for the S-300s on Greece’s recommendation.

“Russia didn’t want to sell us these weapons,” he went on, adding that the sale had only gone ahead after he had intervened personally.

But speaking on Greek television, former Greek foreign minster Theodoros Pangalos – who resigned on Thursday over the Ocalan affair – described Cyprus’ decision to order the S-300s as a “colossal mistake”.

As a result of the débâcle, he went on, Hellenism had turned the United States against it, and, in order for a Cyprus solution to be achieved, it was important to have American support.

The decision on the missiles had been taken by then former Defence Minister Yerasimos Arsenis, Pangalos said, and neither he, nor the Prime Minister nor current Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos had been involved.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.