Greece intends to buy four used Bergamini frigates from Italy

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece wants to buy four used Bergamini class frigates from Italy, Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said on Monday, as the NATO member seeks to modernise its navy.

High-ranking officials from the two countries signed memorandums for naval cooperation, Dendias said in a statement after a meeting with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto in La Spezia in Italy.

"One of the memorandums opens the door to acquire two FREMM frigates with an option to buy two more," Dendias said without giving details of the cost.

Greece plans to spend about 28 billion euros as part of a multi-year defence plan that includes the purchase of a fourth Belharra frigate from France and new submarines as it tries to keep pace with historic rival Turkey.

Greece has a long-standing dispute with its NATO ally Turkey over maritime waters, energy resources and airspace in the eastern Mediterranean.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Alison Williams)

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