Panos Kammenos: "NATO relations will continue as before"

Greece's new government remains committed to its NATO role despite its desire to build close ties with Russia, which has worried its allies, Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told AFP on Wednesday.

Following his first meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and on the eve of a gathering of the alliance's defence ministers, Kammenos played down concerns that Athens could go soft on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

     "We spoke a lot about relations between the alliance and Greece; I assured them that relations will continue as before," Kammenos said in an interview at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
     "We will continue our cooperation on a political level and also on a military level."

There were concerns when Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last week protested against an EU statement threatening further sanctions against Russia over Ukraine. Asked about such fears, Kammenos replied:

     "We have seen these reports in recent days all around the world but Greece will continue to be a member of Europe and NATO, that's for sure."
However, he insisted that Greece would maintain its ties with Russia too:
     "Of course Greece has political relations with Russia. These relations are not hidden, these are open relations and we will continue to have those relations."
     "The majority of Greek agricultural production is exported to Russia and now with the sanctions that has really affected farmers," he said.
     "Also we have (Russian) military equipment, we discussed that with the secretary general. We will continue to source spare parts so that we are able to keep this equipment, which will remain within NATO."

Source: AFP