Greece and Spain, two Member States of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance, have undergone significant pressure from their allies in recent months. This reflects the complexity of the geopolitical situation in the region and differences in approaches to key security and defense issues.
This month, Kyiv appealed to Western Allies with an inquiric request for seven additional air defense systems. Only Germany has announced the supply of one Patriot installation.
Other EU leaders used a summit in Brussels last week to call for persons of Spain and Greece Pedro Sanchez and Kiriakos Michotakis to give some of their air defense systems to Ukraine, according to people who are aware of these discussions.
The leaders of the two countries whose armed forces have more than a dozen Patriot systems, as well as other systems, such as the C-300, it was said that their needs are not as large as in Ukraine and they do not face the immediate threat.
"We all know who they have, we all know where they are, and we all know who they really need," one of the interlocutors said.
Officials have stated that Poland and Romania, which also has a Patriot, put less pressure in view of their more vulnerable location on the border with Ukraine.
According to officials, at a meeting of foreign ministers and defense of 27 EU member states in Luxembourg, the pressure on transferring systems to the gift will intensify. It is expected that Kiev is especially interested in the outdated S-300 systems, which are already in service with Ukrainian troops and with which they have experience.
"To be honest, there are countries that do not need air defense systems in the near future ... Every country is asked to decide what it can allocate," said one of the European diplomats who participated in the preparation of the meeting.
