The Greek Left Alliance (EL.A.S.) of Alexis Tsipras launched a sharp attack against government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis over foreign policy, responding to Marinakis’ criticism of the former prime minister. “We are not surprised that the government spokesman is lying once again about foreign policy and national defense,” EL.A.S. stated. “We understand that Mr. Marinakis represents a government that has led us to national defeats on all fronts, but he should at least refrain from lying shamelessly,” the party added.
Read also: Marinakis attacks Tsipras: “He lies shamelessly about the F-35s — all Greece has to remember is a tie”
EL.A.S. opens fire on Marinakis
The following is the full text of EL.A.S.’s social media post targeting government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis and the ruling government:
“We are not surprised that the government spokesman is lying once again about foreign policy and national defense. This is, after all, the preferred tactic of a government that lies continuously in order to avoid admitting its resounding failures.
We remind Mr. Marinakis: First, Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program had been frozen since September 2017, when it purchased the S-400 systems (resulting in the suspension of Turkish pilot training), and Turkey was formally removed from the co-production program in July 2019. As always, Mr. Marinakis conveniently forgets not only the upgrade of Greek-American relations during the 2017–2019 period, but also the fact that with the support of the Greek-American lobby, the EAST MED ACT bill introduced in April 2019 called on the US government, for the first time, to cancel the sale of F-35s to Turkey.
Second, the upgrade of the F-16s to the Viper configuration was agreed upon in October 2017 during Alexis Tsipras’ visit to the United States. On April 30, 2018, the Ministry of National Defense signed the Letter of Offer and Acceptance regarding the contract with the US for the upgrade of 85 F-16 fighter jets to the F-16V standard. This was the first major defense procurement program Greece had advanced in years, and under difficult economic conditions.
Third, Greece’s first Letter of Request for F-35s was submitted in 2017, despite the challenging fiscal environment, and on that basis, discussions with the American side continued in the years that followed.
As for the government spokesman’s witty remarks about Alexis Tsipras’ foreign policy legacy, we remind him that beyond the Prespa Agreement, there are dozens of achievements from the 2015–2019 period: the upgrade of multilateral cooperation frameworks in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Strategic Dialogue with the United States, the FSRU terminal in Alexandroupolis, European sanctions against Turkey, the repulsion of the Barbaros vessel from the Greek continental shelf, and more.
Perhaps the government spokesman should reflect on his own government’s ‘achievements’? The illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum, the cancellation of the East Med pipeline, the Oruc Reis crisis, the Mitsotakis fiasco at the Sinai Monastery, the ‘shipwreck’ of the undersea cable off Kasos, the sale of weapons to Turkey by all our allies, and the government’s shameful stance on the genocide in Gaza? We understand that Mr. Marinakis represents a government that has led us to national defeats on all fronts, but he should at least refrain from lying shamelessly.”
Marinakis attacks Tsipras: “He lies shamelessly”
Earlier, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis had launched a particularly forceful attack against Alexis Tsipras over his claims of a “national defeat” regarding the F-35 issue, accusing the former prime minister of attempting to “present black as white.” “Mr. Tsipras is lying shamelessly in a nationwide broadcast,” Marinakis said pointedly, also commenting on Greece’s foreign policy record during Tsipras’ time in government.
More specifically, Pavlos Marinakis stated: “Mr. Tsipras is lying shamelessly in a nationwide broadcast. This is one of the most characteristic examples — particularly on technical matters and defense procurement issues. It is the definition of presenting black as white.” Marinakis went on to contrast the situation that prevailed during the SYRIZA government with current developments in defense procurement.
“For all the years he was prime minister, Turkey was not only a customer for the F-35s, but also a co-producer. Greece was completely out of any discussion regarding the F-35s. It hadn’t even entered the F-16 upgrade program,” he noted.
Continuing in a sharp tone, the government spokesman argued that the only thing Greece had to show from Alexis Tsipras’ tenure in foreign policy was “a tie,” referring to the gift Tsipras had received from Zoran Zaev. “All Greece has to remember, in terms of foreign policy successes, is a tie. The tie gifted by Mr. Zaev. Everything else exists only in Mr. Tsipras’ imagination,” he said, among other remarks.
