What else can cause rows, if not poverty? The government plane "Embrauer" of course, which has become a bone of contention between The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence of Greece.
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However, let’s start from the beginning.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was among the first to react to the attempts for the amendment of the rules that provided that besides the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance, the Minister of Defence would also be able to use the government aircraft.
So, following the noise that was made, the disputed amendment was withdrawn.
Waiting
Thus, at the end of July, Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos was forced to fly to the United States through Central Europe on a regular flight.
This has obviously caused Avramopoulos discomfort, who, however, avoided dealing further with the issue.
Instead he waited for an appropriate moment, since it is well known that the military aviation, i.e. the Ministry of Defence, flies the government plane.
The request
The appropriate moment, awaited by Dimitris Avramopoulos, was not late in coming. These days the General Staff of the Air Force did not approve the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the government plane should make the flight to Skiathos in order to pick up Evangelos Venizelos and take him to Brussels for his participation in the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union, and subsequently return him to Skiathos.
The revenge
Following the letter of the law, the General Staff considered that the flight in question should not provide an intermediate stop since it would increase the price considerably. For this reason, the Foreign Minister had to travel in a private capacity to Athens and from there board the government aircraft the base of which is in Elefsina. And this was what actually happened.
In other words, "the revenge," was made by means of the law.