Posted on 10/17/2011 4:29:46 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
France to Sell Frigates to Greece in Controversial Deal
Berlin is unhappy about a weapons deal in which France plans to supply warships to highly indebted Greece free of charge for the first five years, and at a big discount when payment comes due. Firms and politicians in Germany say taxpayers may end up paying for part of the deal, and they want Chancellor Angela Merkel to intervene.
A huge arms deal is threatening to put French-German relations under strain. According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, France wants to deliver two to four new frigates to the Greek navy and to allow the highly indebted nation to postpone payment of the €300 million ($412 million) purchase price per ship for the next five years.
Under the deal, Greece will have the option of paying up after five years, with a significant discount of €100 million, or returning them to the French navy. The "stealth" frigates are designed to avoid detection by enemy radar and are built by state-owned French defense company DCNS.
The deal is being criticized by German rivals that have been competing for the contract for years.
In a letter to the German government, an executive from the ThyssenKrupp group complained that the vessel purchase will in effect be co-financed by German taxpayers because Greece, reliant on aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, may have to restructure its debts.
'The Chancellor Must Stop Her Friend Sarkozy'
A Greek debt haircut is looking increasingly likely. If this happens and Greece is rescued again with funds from the European bailout mechanisms,
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
Greece isn’t going to restructure its debt, its going to default on its debt. They’ll need these ships for the ensuing war.
I suspect they are going to need them for defense against Turkey.
I love it when the Euroweenies fight amongst themselves. That way, they don’t have time to lecture us...
This is the French being French. They always use “State” funding to protect their industries.
Hope they got a pre-pay.
Well, in truth, some industries DO need protecting. Sometimes I think our politicians would outsource our Defense industry to China if they could justify it.
Moreover: France may have decided that they want Greece to have these frigates for geopolitical reasons.
But this being France - the country of Oil for Fraud - I think this is more likely a case of corruption. Some powerful defense contractor lobbying the French to - in effect - get foreign taxpayers to pay for their merchandise. Just my theory.
that expains why France would sell anything to a bankrupt country that is actually reaching the end of living on even other people’s money
If it’s geopolitcal (vs Turkey) then maybe they should call it lend-lease
In 7 years..the RepoMen TV show will show them taking back a frigate..
...a weapons deal in which France plans to supply warships to highly indebted Greece free of charge for the first five years, and at a big discount when payment comes due. Firms and politicians in Germany say taxpayers may end up paying for part of the deal...Yeah, that makes sense -- maybe instead, France could charge Greece full price. The German taxpayers are bound to prefer that outcome.
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