The deployment of Greece’s Patriot air-defense systems within the country’s borders – including on the southeastern Aegean island of Karpathos and elsewhere within the framework of measures to protect not just Greece, but also neighbors and NATO allies, such as Bulgaria and Turkey – as well as their successful performance in Saudi Arabia recently, is proving exceptionally useful at both the strictly military and diplomatic levels.
The operation of the Patriot systems have achieved a number of goals. First, they have demonstrated that Athens has the capabilities to protect the country against a missile attack; second, that it can be an active partner in allied operations beyond merely providing logistical support in Souda and Alexandroupoli; and third, that it can project its defense capabilities in international hotspots, as it recently did once more in the context of the European Union’s “Aspides” mission.
At the same time, Athens is proving itself as a reliable partner, not in theory, but in practice, on the ground. The deployment of the Greek Patriot systems to Saudi Arabia is not merely symbolic; they have not been stationed in a safe location without an operational role. They are positioned in a high-risk zone, near a critical oil pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, and their contribution to Saudi Arabia’s defensive shield has proven substantial – the key word here being “defensive.”
The criticism directed by some inside Greece at the government is, therefore, misplaced and, to a large extent, unfair.
What the administration has done is provide Saudi Arabia – a significant regional power with which it has developed close cooperation in recent years – with a purely defensive system to protect it from attacks. The opposition parties with aspirations of governing – the rest simply denounce everyone and everything with no thought for the consequences – ought to bear in mind regional power structures and Greece’s relationships with other countries, and should be highlighting the performance of Greek Patriot systems and the fact that the country is not acting aggressively, but is simply contributing to defensive operations.
The performance of these batteries, which constitute a core component of Greece’s air defense, has not only strengthened confidence in the system’s ability to protect sovereign territory; it has also demonstrated that they can be – and indeed are – operationally effective within the framework of NATO’s collective defense, helping to safeguard the security of neighboring allies, including Turkey.
In this light, some objections expressed by Ankara are unfounded. Greece’s eastern neighbor should interpret the deployment and operation of the Greek Patriot systems positively; not only are they no threat to Turkey but, on the contrary, enhance its security.