BRUSSELS – Greece will send older German tanks to Ukraine from its own stock and Germany will immediately replace these with newer ones, the Greek Ministry of National Defense said on Tuesday.

The agreement between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the extraordinary EU summit in Brussels, follows up on recent discussions between the two countries, added the Greek ministry in a statement.

Greece received the BMP-1 type tanks it will send Ukraine in 1994, and will receive Merder-type tanks in their place.

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SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance pointed out in a statement that “it is inconceivable that Greek people hear this news from the German chnacellor rather than the Greek prime minister, who said nothing of the fact in his own interview.”

The Greek government “must stop taking decisions on critical issues of national significance in secret,” noted Syriza, “especially so when the majority of Greek people are opposed to choices that pose risks to the country’s security and run against our national interests.”

Commenting on the same issue, PASOK-KINAL said that “the government ought to inform political parties of all this agreement’s aspects.” The fact that Mitsotakis did not reveal the agreement during press statements “has naturally raised questions questions about the real content of his meeting with Mr. Scholz,”it added.