As announced, spending for the defence ministry will rise to €6.1 billion (US$6.5 billion) from €3.6 billion, due to the increase in equipment deliveries in 2025.

“Compared to 2019, by 2025, spending on health will have increased by 74% and spending on defence by 73%, underlining the government’s priorities”, minister of economy and finance Kostis Hatzidakis said late November when he submitted the state budget for 2025 to parliament.

Τhe major opposition parties, PASOK and SYRIZA as well as the Hellenic Solution party, have said they will vote in favour of the increased defence spending.

Nikos Dendias, the defence minister, told parliament on Saturday that the spending is essential because of the challenges the country faces, especially from its historic rival Turkey.

“Is this spending too much? Whoever is positioning themselves on this needs to explain on what criteria they are considering. Is the country threatened? And where is the main threat to the country coming from?” he said, noting that Turkey spends €26.8 billion on armaments. Greece spends around 3% of its annual economic output on defence, higher than most EU states, mainly because of long-running tension with Turkey.

Greek armed forces had a €20 billion shortfall during the country’s decade-long debt crisis, Dendias said in November, when he announced a shake-up of the defence forces to sideline older weapons in favour of drones after lessons drawn from Ukraine’s war against Russia.

Among the main changes in the radical overhaul is the creation of an anti-air and anti-drone defence dome covering the whole of Greece.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Sunday morning in a social media post that he will present measures concerning the banking sector in a speech Sunday evening.