U.S. Congress

A highly anticipated ceremony for the delivery of Turkey's first two F-35 fighter jets from the United States will take place at the defense contractor Lockheed Martin's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas on June 21, despite successive attempts by the U.S. Congress to block the supply of the new generation fighters to its NATO ally.

Forty-four members of the US Congress, including Greek-Americans Gus Bilirakis of the Republican party and John Sarbanes for the Democrats, have written a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis urging him to cancel the planned delivery of more than 100 F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

The United States is planning to go ahead with the delivery of the first F-35 fighter jet to Turkey on June 21, despite an ongoing debate in the US Congress on whether to oppose it, news website Defense News reported on Wednesday night.

According to Defense News, Lockheed Martin told the news website that it is preparing for a rollout ceremony at its production facilities next week.

Romania has met four out of the five requirements for the Visa Waiver Program, which cannot be negotiated as the Congress has authority on this law, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest Abigail Rupp told a conference on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides says the Republic of Cyprus is not seeking membership into NATO or Partnership for Peace, reiterating that issues of security and defense are discussed inline with EU membership.

Turkey's top diplomat has expressed his confidence that the United States administration will not block the delivery of the Joint Strike Fighters, the F-35s, to Turkey despite some measures being discussed in the U.S. Congress.

Greece could have become a communist country in 1947 and stayed that way until at least 1989, even though many believe that on October 9, 1944, at the Moscow Conference, Winston Churchill gave Joseph Stalin a napkin saying that Great Britain wanted 90 percent of Greece and we all - including the Americans - lived happily ever after.

The United States House Committee on Armed Services of the US Congress approved in principle on Thursday a draft bill on the US budget for 2019 national defense which includes a provision that would halt any sale of military equipment to Turkey until the Secretary of Defense submits a report on the US-Turkish relationship to the congressional defense committees.

The United States will deliver the first F-35 joint strike fighter to Turkey on June 21 as part of a longstanding partnership between the two allies, despite attempts by the U.S. Congress to block the procurement of such weaponry to the Turkish government.

Turkey's behavior in the Aegean makes the improvement of Greece's defense capabilities increasingly urgent, starting from the upgrade of the F-16 fighter jets.

The upgrade is also considered imperative by the conservative opposition which, for its part, should ensure there is full transparency in the relevant agreement should it be signed.