Following the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Erdogan, last week at the White House, Athens is gauging the situation to determine its next moves. Apart from the prospect of America lifting weapons sanctions against Turkey, talks between Trump and Erdogan included the possibility of the latter’s country being re-admitted to the 5th Generation F-35 stealth fighter jet program.
In the highly volatile eastern Mediterranean region, Greece is assessing all possible outcomes, including the worst-case scenario, according to which Turkey would procure the Eurofighter jets—it is in talks with Germany—along with acquiring F-35s and starting the production of its own 5th generation jet, known as the KAAN, which has stalled because of issues with the engine.
With limited fiscal space and the prospect of joint programs with the EU still at a theoretical stage, Athens has no current plans to acquire additional fighter jets beyond a possible expansion of the F-35 and Rafale fleets. Even these, however, remain at a conceptual level. In his weekly post, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis highlighted recent progress: “We have already received 42 upgraded F-16s and 24 Rafales, and we are expecting the first F-35s in 2028. At the same time, we will be receiving the first Belharra frigates in the coming months.”
Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, speaking yesterday in Tripoli, emphasized the need for “Armed Forces that are equipped, flexible, and capable of meeting modern challenges.” He announced the creation of a school for drone and anti-drone systems operations, stressing, “We must remember that every failure in defending sovereignty and sovereign rights, as happened in 1996, has deep-rooted causes. These causes must be addressed—with unity, but also with courage.”
In his post, Mitsotakis also criticized “domestic voices of defeatism, the ‘no to everything’ and the ‘yes to nothing,’” while adding that regarding Greek-Turkish relations, “the time has come for the casus belli to be withdrawn, as the way forward is dialogue, not the language of arms.” According to reports, Mitsotakis is not expected to meet President Erdogan in Copenhagen on Thursday during the European Political Community summit. This means that their canceled meeting in New York will need to be rescheduled, with Athens careful not to appear as the party pressing for haste.
