Macron Rejects Greek Request to Block Turkey’s Missile Deal: Report

French President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis‘ plea to block the sale of Meteor missiles to Turkey, according to Greek media reports on Tuesday.

During their meeting at the Paris AI Summit, Macron made it clear that preventing the sale of the Meteor air-to-air missiles was not feasible. The deal, he explained, involves the six-country European consortium MBDA, which includes the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, meaning it falls beyond France’s control, as reported by daily EFSYN.

Athens is reportedly planning to reach out to other members of the consortium in an attempt to block the missile sale to Ankara.

Turkey is negotiating the acquisition of up to 40 EF-2000 Eurofighter jets to strengthen its air force in response to growing regional threats. The Meteor missiles are said to be part of the proposed Eurofighter deal.

Greece, which has recently increased its military procurements through programs like the F-16 fleet modernization and the purchase of French-made Rafale jets equipped with Meteor missiles, strongly opposes the sale to Turkey.

On January 29, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias summoned the French ambassador and military attache in Athens to formally express Greece’s opposition to the deal.

On February 4, Mitsotakis again sought clarification from Macron regarding the missile negotiations during a meeting on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

Additionally, Turkish sources reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Macron discussed bilateral relations and other cooperation matters during a phone conversation last Friday.

Source: pagenews.gr