Former US military attaché in Athens, Robert Palm, called Greece poverty-stricken in connection with a Twitter discussion about which frigates to buy for the Greek fleet, but deleted the tweet and apologized after a wave of outrage and demands from Greeks to abandon the purchase of American ships.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced in September 2020 that Greece, in addition to 18 Rafale fighters, intends to acquire four newest multipurpose frigates and modernize the existing four MEKO frigates. The amount of the deal is estimated at several billion euros. French and American frigates are named among the main contenders, and the public and the media are discussing which ones to choose.
One of the users posted on Twitter photos of different frigates and signed “What I wanted” and “What they will give me”.
“The poor don’t have to choose (beggars can’t be choosers)”, – Robert Palm, the former US military attaché in Athens, replied with a proverb.
His tweet provoked a sharp reaction from the Greeks, who pointed out that calling a state like the Greek one “beggar”, especially during the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the national liberation revolution, is “far from respectful”.
“Shame. Think next time before you speak”, – wrote user Stanitsas Haralampos.