Greece ready to pass German Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine

The Bild publication reported this. 

“The agreement on the exchange of combat armored vehicles from Germany to Greece and armored personnel carriers from Greece to Ukraine is being carried out normally,” Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said. 

In particular, according to Panagiotopoulos, to date Greece has supplied Ukraine with even more IFVs than was guaranteed by the contract: Greece received the first 14 Marder vehicles from Germany and delivered 20 IFVs to Ukraine.

“In January, we will receive even more Marder and deliver even more IFVs,” the minister said.

According to him, currently Greece can even do without supplies from Germany - in favor of Ukraine. According to Panagiotopoulos, Greece took a “clear position in favor of helping the Ukrainian people” from the very beginning.

Also, according to the spokeswoman of the German Ministry of Defense, the Bundeswehr currently has about 370 Marders in service, but how many of them are actually suitable for combat conditions is unknown. Some are used only as "donors" of spare parts or for training purposes.

Without a sufficient number of these IFVs, the Bundeswehr would not be able to meet its allied commitments on NATO's eastern flank in emergency situations, especially after the more modern Puma armored vehicles failed.

• On December 16, the Greek government announced that it would hand over the S-300 air defense systems to Ukraine if American air defense and Patriot anti-aircraft systems were installed on the island of Crete

• On December 21, Greece decided to close its airspace to planes from Belarus. Athens also banned flights to this country