Greece to increase arms expenditure in 2021

The Greek government has decided to increase spending on military equipment after five long days of debate. Due to the tension with Turkey, it is planned to increase the cost of war weapons by 57%.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during the parliamentary debate on the 2021 budget that the government wants to increase 57% of the financial plan on military material compared to 2019.

189 members of parliament voted in favour of this measure, while 16 said they were against and 95 voted "present".

The aim is to project around 5.5 million euros in Greek defence, more than double the amount for 2019. Despite its harsh and low economy, Greece spent 2.3% of its GDP on defence last year.

In the next few days the government of the Mediterranean country plans to sign an agreement with France for the purchase of 18 Rafale fighter planes manufactured by Dassault. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mirsotakis also announced on Tuesday that new helicopters, frigates and drones will be purchased and additional troops recruited. 

"In a few days, the deal on 18 Rafale-type aircraft from France will be signed here in Athens," said Mirsontakis. "Never before has such a complex and important military programme been carried out so quickly," he added.

After years of trying to grow the Greek economy, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected its small progress. Unlike the other countries, Greece has set its sights on increasing spending next year's budget on war weapons, reducing health spending.

Prior to Covid-19 the Greek economy had managed to outperform the European average for the first time in 12 years, Mitsotakis said. By 2020, there is a 10.5 percent decline in GDP, but the 2021 budget is based on a projected growth of 4.8 percent.

On the other hand, the opposition has opposed this spending and has criticised the government because they think they have not taken advantage of the pandemic to improve public health. At the same time, they comment that "we are not voting against the increase in spending. But we are not giving you a blank cheque, without consultation, without a plan and a strategy".

The cost in health is expected to be lower than this year, 131 million euros have been set aside for this purpose. Greece invests less than 5% of GDP in its public health system, which is below the European average of 7.5%.

The increase in defence spending by the government is justified by the need to modernise a large part of the military systems. However, tension with Turkey has grown to levels not seen since January 1996. The intervention of the United States prevented the outbreak of a war.