Greece will not be sending troops to Ukraine, Deputy Defense Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said on Tuesday after two Greek-US memorandums of cooperation concerning the deployment and placement of Greek defense personnel in the US Army were approved on Monday by a majority in the Parliament Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
“Obviously, these are not memorandums of cooperation, which open the backdoor to send troops to Ukraine… there are no backdoors under any circumstances,” he said.
“Through this conclusion of the memorandums with the US, an additional channel of communication and cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries and the two states is created and contributes to the consolidation of the strategic defense partnership between Greece and the US,” Kefalogiannis said.
On Friday, March 8, the memorandum of cooperation between the US Department of Defense and Greece’s Defense Ministry regarding the deployment/placement of Greek defense personnel in the US Army was submitted to Greek Parliament.
“The purpose of the memorandum is to define the terms and implement the placement of Greek defense personnel in US Army units in Europe, to meet operational needs and gain experience in a multinational interoperability environment,” the memorandum’s introductory report said.
It also outlined its benefits for Greece as it will provide valuable experience to officers of the Greek Armed Forces, through familiarization with the operational organization and operation of the US Army. It also stipulates that the Greek defense personnel must possess the required rank, skills, education, academic and other qualifications needed for the position, as well as security certification for classified information, documents and material.
