WASHINGTON – A new bipartisan bill seeks to enhance cooperation between the US and Greece, and to expand the “3+1” forum that includes the US, Greece, Israel and Cyprus “to include other areas of common concern to the members.”
According to the bill introduced by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the United States Government “should support joint maritime security cooperation exercises with Cyprus, Greece, and Israel.
“The United States should support the sale of F–35 Joint Strike Fighters to Greece to include those F–35 aircraft produced for but never delivered to Turkey as a result of Turkey’s exclusion from the program due to its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.”
The legislation also suggests that the Cyprus, Greece, Israel and the US 3+1 Interparliamentary Group “shall include a group of not more than six United States Senators, to be known as the ‘‘United States group,” that would meet with the sides at least once a year to discuss issues such as “maritime security, defense cooperation, energy initiatives and countering malign influence efforts by the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation.”
The new legislation authorizes $1 million per year in International Military Education and Training assistance for Greece for the next four years, and expresses the sense of Congress that the US should provide direct loans to Greece “for the procurement of defense articles, defense services, and design and construction services pursuant to the further development of Greece’s military force.”
It also authorizes expedited delivery of any future F-35 aircraft ordered by Greece, and requires the defense secretary to submit a report to Congress on Greece’s defense needs “and how the United States will seek to address such needs through transfers of excess defense equipment to Greece.”
According to the US-Greece Defense and Interparliamentary Partnership Act of 2021, “Greece is a pillar of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean… the United States should increase and deepen efforts to partner with and support the modernization of the Greek military; it is in the interests of the United States that Greece continue to transition its military equipment away from Russian-produced platforms and weapons systems through the European Recapitalization Investment Program,” the bill reads.
“As a reliable NATO ally, Greece plays a critical role in promoting security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Menendez said in a statement. “In order to ensure that the Eastern Mediterranean remains secure, the US must bolster its defense relationship with Greece by supporting Greece’s efforts to modernize its armed forces.”
Rubio said that “by extending foreign military assistance to Greece and establishing an inter-parliamentary partnership with democratic countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, this legislation reaffirms our strong commitment to the region at a time when malign actors are working to undermine international security and stability.”