25 March, 2010

EU: hypocrisy and corruption

Greece spends a higher proportion of its National Income on defence than any other European country. So you might think that, in times of peace and when they are almost bankrupt, they might reduce it. You might also think that France and Germany, who are pressing for the Greeks to make sacrifices in order to get their budget under control, would be pressing them to reduce military spending.

Not so.

Reuters reports that Germany is hoping to sell Greece a €300 million submarine, while France wants to sell 6 frigates for €3.4 billion, 15 helicopters for €400m and an unnamed number of Rafale fighters at €100m a pop.

An adviser to Mr Papandreou said "No one is saying 'Buy our warships or we won't bail you out', but the clear implication is that they will be more supportive if we do what they want on the armaments front"

Today is the 53rd anniversary of the founding of the European Economic Community (EEC) and I expect the Greeks, like us, are wishing they had never gone near it.

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