Costas Isichos

Recent comments by Defense Minister Panos Kammenos that he has proposed to the United States the creation of a new NATO airbase on Karpathos, in the southeastern Aegean, on Monday received a cold reaction from coalition leaders SYRIZA.

Moscow is helping Greece in its investigation into possible Second World War reparations from Germany by providing access to previously unused archives.

Following a request by Alternate Defense Minister Costas Isichos, the Russian Embassy in Athens has provided Greek authorities with a list of the relevant archives, including documents, photographs and documentary footage.

Alternate Defense Minister Costas Isichos said on Wednesday that the government does not want to enter a “war of words” with Germany over the issue of World War II reparations after Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel dismissed the suggestion that Berlin could owe as much as 287.7 billion euros as “stupid.”

Alternate Defense Minister Costas Isichos told Russian media that he plans to ask authorities there to allow the Greek state access to archives pertaining to the destruction of infrastructure by Nazi forces during World War II.

Turkey?s Ambassador in Athens Kerim Uras on Thursday received a delegation from the Greek Defense Ministry for talks that are said to have focused on improving bilateral relations and boosting trust between the two countries even as Turkish fighter jets entered Greek air space without permission.

Alternate Defense Minister Costas Isichos said on Friday that the government would launch investigations into numerous procurement deals, including the purchase of NH-90 helicopters in 2003, when PASOK was in power and Yiannos Papantoniou was defense minister.