Greek lawmakers to vote on major defense pact with France

By ELENA BECATOROS and DEREK GATOPOULOS
Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s lawmakers were poised Thursday to ratify a landmark defense deal with France that includes a mutual assistance clause in case of an armed attack against either, a pact that has irked fellow NATO member Turkey. The five-year agreement was announced in Paris last week by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and French President Emmanuel Macron. Greece is pinning much of its defense strategy on close military cooperation with France and the United States as it remains locked in a volatile dispute with neighbor Turkey over sea and airspace boundaries.