Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a message to Turkey during the reception ceremony of the 5th F-16 Viper in Tanagra. Responding, as he said, to “those who preach that they may come suddenly one night” the Greek PM said that “they should know that they may wake up and land in the harsh reality. The more they raise their voices, the more they lower their credibility, and every charge can become a disorderly retreat in front of the triangle of international law, our powerful Armed Forces, and international alliances.”

At the same time, the prime minister explained once again that “we do not engage in dialogue with the absurd” and added that “in the field of open threats, we respond with decisive readiness to any big-mouthed aggression”

On the occasion of the reception of the 5th F-16 Viper and “the 24 new Rafales that we will have received entirely within the next year but also with an f-35 squadron as Greece has officially expressed its interest in the 5th generation vessel Kyriakos Mitsotakis underlined that “the Greek skies are shielded at a time when our neighbours, instead of co-production, have been completely excluded from the 5th generation fighter program and are gasping for the possibility, perhaps, one day for their own f-16s”.

The prime minister also referred to the twin pillars that support Greece “the patriotism of responsibility” and “the development trajectory that returns the dividend to the citizens”.

Especially, regarding the patriotism of the responsibility, he explained that “we protect the Greek and European borders” expressing his regret for the fact that domestic political forces have adopted the wretched propaganda “and they have not apologised but they also point the finger at us”.

“It is not only the latest progress of the Federal Aviation Administration (ODA) that gives rise to optimism, progress that is credited to the cooperation of the Ministries of Development, Economy, and National Defence. Here at Hellenic Aerospace Industry (EAB), the program is also being developed in collaboration with the universities for Greek drones,” noted the Prime Minister.

“The fifth F-16 upgraded to Viper version is ready to fly from here to Crete to take up duty. And the ODA technical center acquires two important facilities within the framework of the long cooperation that Lockheed Martin has with ODA,” the prime minister added.

He announced, in fact, that “a strategic investor is also being sought for EAB, who will enter with a percentage of 49%.” But I make it clear so that there are no misunderstandings that the majority percentage will always remain in the Greek State”.