Merkel and Sarkozy want Samaras to sign to secure Leopard and Rafale sales, agreed with Papandreou

Merkel and Sarkozy want Samaras to sign to secure Leopard and Rafale sales, agreed with Papandreou
Article | November 22, 2011 - 9:43am | By Kassandra

When, in late October, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed with the-then Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to grant Greece the €110 billion mega-loan, the latter agreed, in return for the loan, to purchase military supplies from Germany and France, worth €10.5bn.

The purchases made were to be in equal parts between Germany and France. The hardware to be purchased, according to Athens sources close to Antonis Samaras's New Democracy party included frigate war ships, Leopard tanks from Germany and Rafale combat aircrafts from France.

At that time, George Papandreou was prime minister and (theoretically) had the right to make the commitment on Greece's behalf, as the prospects were that his party would be staying in power for a further two years at least, and it was sufficient to legitimise the deal by signing the proper agreements.

It should be remembered that three days before the Papandreou government collapsed, following his out-of-the-blue decision to call a referendum to ratify the agreement reached in the 26-27 October EU Summit to rescue Greece, then defence minister Panos Beglitis, announced the immediate retirement of all heads of the Greek armed forces' GHQ, with no explanation given.