The Alternate Minister of National Defence, Dimitris Vitsas, gave an interview to ‘Sunday Ethnos’ newspaper (19/11/2017) and the reporter Alexia Tasouli, stating the following:
Q: Minister, you played a basic role in the negotiations with the Americans regarding the F-16 fleet upgrade . What more are we expecting to conclude the agreement, provided that it does not “freeze” until the debate in the Parliament takes place in the presence of the US Ambassador, as stated by the Minister of National Defence?
R: Nothing is “frozen”. On the contrary, debates continue on even more specific issues, such is the exact number of aircraft to be upgraded to vipers, the delivery time, financial settlements in terms of cost and full payment schedule etc. Now, those who have a problem, leave the “state of Denmark’ out of this. That is, they should reply to the “invitation-challenge” addressed by the Minister of National Defence. The upgrade of the Air Force fleet is not a subject that came up recently. The government and the military staffs work methodically and systematically and now is the time for this Air Force request to be fulfilled. This request is a prerequisite for the Air Force to effectively play its role in the future.
Q: Are we talking about upgrading 85 aircrafts? In addition, will this amount be covered by the budget, the offsets and the U.S. support?
A: First of all, we are talking about the upgrade of 85 out of 123 F-16 aircraft, to vipers. This does not mean that the rest will not be utilized or upgraded. The estimated by the Ministry of Defence cost is within the ten year period budget. I remind you that the annual budget regarding armament programs is approximately 500 million Euros and includes maintenance, upgrade, targeted markets and full payment of previous contracts. The Prime Minister and the Ministry of National Defence have made it clear that we do not aspire to offsets, beyond those necessary for the program. This, I am certain, will lead to cost reduction as well, besides the transparency and full implementation control of the program. In this context, we wish the support of the U.S.A. be of this nature.
Q: Where does the Hellenic side place the emphasis, is it on the debates, the financial part of the agreement, the technical data or the delivery time?
A: The technical data of the upgrade are clear and have been submitted via a LOR to the U.S. Government. Regarding the financial part all the aforementioned are in force. Our basic priority, in the context of the upgrade, is to ensure, along with the favorable financial terms, the swift delivery. if feasible, we wish to receive the first upgraded ones, within 2019.
Q: In the case of the missiles sale to Saudi Arabia did you have any reservations regarding the role of Mr. Vassilis Papadopoulos?
R: I reckon, we are dealing with a communication “bubble” of the opposition, with multiple objectives. It is an act of distraction in face of all that is revealed about the so-called paradise papers and other issues, in which members of the opposition are involved. At the same time, this case is an effort of undermining the government, through an obsession against Panos Kamenos. This effort will fail as well. In any case, on behalf of the Hellenic State, there are no intermediaries or representatives. The Ministry of Defence representative, even from the ‘leaked’ documents, is always the General Dte of Defence Investments and Armaments. It is even more characteristic that the so called ‘report’ by the Brigadier General has never been submitted to a General Staff or the General Dte of Defence Investments and Armaments. Alas, if the whole debate ends with who is who and what is the role of the said gentleman, whom I personally do not know. In any case, on our behalf, everything proceeds with transparency and where needed, through parliamentary control.
Q: Besides the government’s announcement regarding the distribution of social dividends, the military staff are still complaining about not restoring the injustices, as far as they are concerned. Do you have any plans on that?
R: The distribution of the social dividend takes place with common criteria and covers part of the military with low payment as well. In our effort to exit the crisis and to put the country back in the growth path, we are including the part of the Greek people which is the Armed Forces cadres. In the time period preceded, we ensured a lot, through actions of the Ministry of Defence. At this point, I would like to mention that together with the Ministry of Finance,we are trying to find ways to solve other issues as well, amongst which is the full implementation of the State Council resolution. If you want to talk about injustices, no one can deny that the Armed Forces cadres have suffered them, as well as the overwhelming majority of employees. Our government bears the heavy duty to put the country back on its feet. We are doing this. In the summer of 2018, the memorandum period is going to end. We are already working on a new productive model and a new social state which will boost growth, with a just redistribution for the present and the future. The political forces responsible for the crisis, the ones which chose the worst method- the memomanda method- the ones consisting of the elite while the Greeks are striving, the ones making profits and sending them to tax heavens should not be provocative.
