Greece, France to ink defense agreement: French defense minister

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says that the recession-hit Greece and France have planned to ink a defense deal.

Following a meeting with his Greek counterpart Panos Panagiotopoulos on Thursday, Le Drian also added “This (broader) agreement will further include a more specific one, to cover the operational needs of the Greek armed forces, notably the navy and more specifically the frigates.”

“France and Greece have always enjoyed great solidarity,” Le Drian said. He provided no further details with regard to the deal.

Earlier this month, reports declared that Athens launched bilateral talks with Paris to borrow Fremm-type frigates.

This is while, Greece has the highest debt burden in proportion to the size of its economy in the 17-nation eurozone. Despite austerity cuts and bailout funds, the country has been in recession since 2009.

Last year, a report declared that France and Germany forced Greece to buy billions of euros in arms in exchange for their bailout money.

“Speculation is rife that international aid for the country was contingent on Greece following through on agreements to purchase military hardware from Germany and France,” the Guardian said on April 19, 2012.

On January 16, 2013 the International Monetary Fund approved a $4.31-billion (3.24-billion euro) loan installment to Greece on the condition that the country imposes spending cuts and other austerity measures. Tough austerity measures adopted by the government have led to massive protests across the country.