Missile shutdown: opposition in Greece demands not to transfer Patriot systems to Kiev
The Greek Solution parliamentary party appealed to the country's authorities to prevent the transfer of air defense systems to Kiev, its leader Kyriakos Velopoulos told Izvestia. Earlier it became known that Ukraine had requested several Patriot systems and up to 200 missiles from Greece. Kiev is also trying to obtain anti-aircraft missiles from Spain and deploy its own Patriot production. Experts believe that it will be difficult for Ukraine to obtain new air defense systems, since Europe and the Middle East need them themselves. In addition, the overall level of support for Ukraine in the EU countries is gradually decreasing.
Which countries does Ukraine request air defense from?
Ukraine's air defense cannot cope with new Russian attacks, Western media reports. At a meeting of the "coalition of the willing" in Paris on July 13, the creation of an "anti-ballistic coalition" was announced, but the delivery of new complexes is possible only in a year. Therefore, Kiev is now appealing to all European countries that have modern air defense systems in service. In particular, Ukraine asked Greece to hand over part of the batteries from its six Patriot air defense systems and up to 200 PAC missiles to them. Athens has not yet given a positive response.
The opposition parliamentary party "Greek Solution" demanded that the government of the country not transfer Patriot systems to Ukraine, its leader Kyriakos Velopoulos told Izvestia.
— We are fully aware that the Ukrainian side is demanding additional air defense systems from Greece. This is unacceptable and extremely dangerous for Greece's national security. We will do everything necessary inside and outside the parliament to prevent further transfer of Greek military materials," the politician said.
Greece has already provided Ukraine with short-range Sea Sparrow and Crotale NG missiles when their service life was coming to an end. Further transfer will significantly weaken control over its own airspace, the Aegean islands, Cyprus and some areas of Southeastern Bulgaria, which is politically sensitive for Athens due to difficult relations with Turkey, Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies, told Izvestia. At the same time, the Greek media reported on the pressure exerted by NATO and the EU on the country's military leadership. Therefore, Athens' position may change.
The same pressure is being exerted on Spain. In March, the newspaper El Pais, citing sources in the Cabinet of Ministers of the kingdom, reported that Madrid had agreed to transfer five missiles for the Patriot complex to Ukraine. However, there has been no official announcement about this yet. However, the government of Pedro Sanchez refuses to supply the air defense systems themselves. The fact is that the Spanish army has only three Patriot batteries in service — this is the minimum permissible norm for protecting the country's airspace.
Ukraine is trying to deploy its own production of Patriot systems. In early July, US President Donald Trump announced his intention to grant Kiev a license for this. However, Western military experts believe that the establishment of such production in Ukraine will take from 12 to 24 months. To create Patriot interceptor missiles, technically complex components are needed, which are not manufactured in Ukraine. Warsaw is trying to join this process — the deputy head of the Polish Ministry of Defense, Magdalena Sobkovyak-Charnetskaya, suggested producing missiles in a "safe place."
According to open data, six to seven Patriot batteries could be transferred to Ukraine from 2022. In particular, information was published on the supply of complexes from Germany, the USA and Romania. Washington stopped providing gratuitous supplies after Trump's arrival, and now European countries are paying for the weapons. Patriots are important because they are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly reported the destruction of Patriot launchers.
The only alternative to Patriot is the French-Italian SAMP/T system. However, at the moment, only two such complexes have been transferred to Ukraine. In November 2025, Vladimir Zelensky announced that France had agreed to supply Ukraine with eight more systems, but the timing of their delivery is still unknown. It is important to take into account that European countries, including France, need air defense systems to protect facilities in the Middle East, where the confrontation between the United States and Iran continues.
Growing discontent in Europe
The opposition of the Greek opposition to arms supplies to Ukraine is just one of the signs of growing discontent with the growing costs of supporting Kiev. European countries are accepting one aid package after another: in April, the EU approved a loan to Ukraine for €90 billion, and in July, at the NATO summit, it was decided to allocate another €70 billion. In total, starting from 2022, the European Union has transferred €216 billion to Ukraine, the European Commission estimated.
Even at the official level, more and more countries do not want to spend money on supplying Kiev. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic refused to participate in EU and NATO aid packages. The new Bulgarian government has stopped military aid to Ukraine and withdrawn from the "coalition of the willing." The volume of support from countries such as Italy, Romania, and Portugal amounted to less than 1% of their GDP in four years. Formally, they provide assistance, but on an extremely small scale.
The main burden was borne by the Baltic States, Northern Europe and Germany. And while in the UK, which is not part of the EU, as well as in the Baltic States and Scandinavia, there remains a high level of support for Ukraine and consensus towards Russia, the situation is changing in Germany. The Alternative for Germany party, which advocates the restoration of relations with the Russian Federation, is leading for the first time in the pre-election ratings in Berlin, which was previously dominated by the ruling CDU. By the way, after the scandal with the glorification of nationalists in Ukraine, Kiev's support in Poland is decreasing. According to the latest survey by the IBRiS center, 52% of Poles approve of military supplies, in 2022 this figure exceeded 77%.
Political scientist Denis Denisov points out that sociological research shows a steady downward trend in support for Ukraine among the population of most European countries. However, this does not prevent national governments from continuing this support, as some European elites continue to refuse to engage in dialogue with Russia.
The EU and NATO will probably still be able to force Greece to transfer some of its existing air defense systems to Ukraine in exchange for other preferences. Earlier, Brussels managed to persuade Athens to lift its veto on the 21st package of sanctions by making concessions on the issue of Russian LNG. Russian officials stress that new supplies will only prolong the conflict in Ukraine. If the European Union really intends to move to diplomacy, then the suspension of supplies would show the seriousness of such aspirations.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
