With strong criticism from the opposition, the Greek Parliament’s plenary session today (3/12) approved the defense bill by the Ministry of Defense for extending ongoing support for the Air Force’s Rafale fighter aircraft.
The purpose of the bill, titled “Approval of Contract Amendment Scheme for the 014Γ/20 Rafale Contract,” is to maintain the high availability level of Greece’s advanced fighter jets for the next four years.
Responding to opposition parties who argued they had insufficient information about the contract appendices, Deputy Defense Minister Thanasis Davakis noted: “When have classified written contract appendices ever been given to our committee in a law approval process like this? When we voted on the original Rafale procurement contract, were classified technical appendices distributed? There is no information gap.”
Davakis: “The goal is for our Air Force to maintain the highest level of Rafale availability for the next four years”
He then emphasized: “There is one question: Do we want high availability rates at the 90% level, as mentioned by the Chief of General Staff and the Air Force Chief, or not? I’m sorry to say this, but to this question, the entire opposition with bright exceptions from some opposition parties, says no.”
Concluding the discussion, Thanasis Davakis highlighted that “Parliament is called to ratify the second amendment to the active contract for ongoing support of Rafale fighter aircraft, which concerns the contract’s time extension for four years, combined with an increase in the physical scope, namely the total supported flight hours.”
The Deputy Defense Minister stressed that “the goal is for our Air Force to maintain, as it does, the highest level of Rafale availability for the next four years.”
New Democracy, Greek Solution, and Victory parliamentary group voted in favor of the bill’s principle, PASOK declared “present,” while SYRIZA, KKE, New Left, and Course of Freedom voted “no.”
Opposition reactions
The opposition criticized that the government is asking for a “good faith” vote on a 16-page bill for a 500 million euro contract, without disclosing the 170 pages of appendices to Parliament.
The minority rapporteur and PASOK MP D. Mantzos said they are not discussing whether Rafale jets are necessary for us. This is obvious, but how can we discuss a half-billion euro contract when the documents that justify and substantiate such expenditure (the contract appendices) are not known to us? asked Mr. Mantzos.
SYRIZA speaker Symeon Kedikoglou said his party had voted for Rafale acquisition, however the state budget burden is significant, approaching half a billion euros, while at the same time crucial contract articles and corresponding appendices, with detailed cost breakdown, are not published, citing service confidentiality.
KKE speaker N. Papanastasis said the government is asking the people to accept new heavy sacrifices to finance the war economy, not to react to working time overflow, not to protest that their knowledge and hands are in NATO plans intended to be used to sow death and destruction.
He added: “But the people say ‘damn them all’ – there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that connects the working class with the flag of their exploiters.”
New Left speaker Sia Anagnostopoulou referred to the need to discuss the overall defense ecosystem and not fragmentarily – without questioning the staff who say Rafale are very good aircraft.
Greek Solution speaker St. Fotopoulos said that the MPs called to approve or reject the contract are those who “will not gain knowledge” of the contract details.
Victory parliamentary group speaker Tasos Oikonomopoulos said he supports the contract ratification but demands accountability, technical clarity, and serious strategic planning.
Finally, the Course of Freedom speaker wondered “how is it possible to have transparency when we don’t see what we are called to vote on?”
