The Greek National Security Council (Kysea) has made an important strategic decision regarding the military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean.
According to information received from sources in the Greek Ministry of National Defense, it was decided to keep four F-16 fighters in Cyprus. These aircraft have been based in Paphos since the beginning of the military crisis in the Persian Gulf. At this stage, they will continue to perform tasks, and in the future, at the second stage, these machines will replace other aircraft.
In parallel, Kysea approved a different scenario for the island of Karpathos. Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, which were there in the same period, will be withdrawn from there. Their place will be taken by two multipurpose fighters Mirage 2000-5, which indicates a change in the tactical concept in the region.
The official representative of the Greek government Pavlos Marinakis, commenting on these changes, emphasized that all decisions are dictated exclusively by operational considerations. The withdrawal of Patriot from Karpathos was the result of a thorough assessment of the current situation and taking into account a long time factor.
A government spokesman expressed clear irritation in response to media publications that try to portray these steps as a manifestation of weakness or compliance. He firmly stated that he was tired of reading such insinuations and once again confirmed: the decision is based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Defense and is in no way connected with political pressure.
Separately, Pavlos Marinakis settled on the Cypriot direction, calling it “a very special case.” The deployment of the F-16 in Cyprus, he said, was originally an independent initiative of the Greek government, implemented in close coordination with the Republic of Cyprus.
This was preceded by direct negotiations between the Prime Minister of Greece and the President of Cyprus. Speaking about critics who see signs of concessions in the redeployment of troops, Marinakis was categorical: anyone who talks about compliance is out of context and chronology of events.
He reiterated that all reshuffles of forces have a purely operational basis and were proposed by the military department to improve the effectiveness of defense in the region. Thus, Greece maintains a military presence in Cyprus, while modernizing the air defense system in Karpathos, replacing stationary missile systems with more mobile aircraft.
Источник: sigmalive.com
https://cyprusbutterfly.com.cy/news/grecheskix-istrebitelya-poka-ostayutsya-kipre
