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Mr Henkel says its “entirely plausible” that “Greece is encouraged to buy French ships” because Athens stands in the way of many of Mr Macron’s proposed eurozone reforms. The French

President upon election promised swathes of reforms to the European Union’s single currency bloc, promising to completely overhaul to bolster the eurozone. One of Mr Macron’s proposed

reforms attempts to solve the question of how the 19 member states can prepare themselves against the financial disaster in Greece. Greece has lived under eight years of cheap bailout loans

from its fellow eurozone members and the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, while Athens turned its 15 percent of GDP budget deficit in 2009 into a budget surplus of 0.8 percent

last year. Germans have long been opposed to the Greek bailout because Berlin has taken the bear of the brunt, contributing 30 percent of the loan totalling more than €240 billion. In

comparison France contributed around €14 billion less than the Germans, lending Greece a total of €42.98 billion as part of the bailout. Mr Henkel voiced his frustration when Greece decided

to rent French warships as their Aegean dispute with Turkey worsens. Athens is leasing two state-of-the-art French warships to bolster its defences in the Aegean Sea, with the vessels

potentially ready for deployment next month. French frigates of the same class Greece intends to lease are believed to have been used as part of Mr Macron’s strikes on suspected chemical

weapons sites in Syria. While it remains unclear how much Athens will be paying Paris for use of the vessels, experts have estimated it will be cheaper than the €400 million cost of

upgrading Greece’s fleet of German-designed vessels. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Henkel said German Chancellor Angela Merkel was pressurised into taking part in the bailout and is now

being repaid by Greece sending business France’s way. The German MEP said: “In 2010, it was the French President Sarkozy, the French finance minister Lagarde, the French president of the

IMF, Strauss-Kahn and the French president who pressurised Angela Merkel to ‘save Greece’.” The German lending effectively “saved French banks” because of the huge amount of extra

commitments from Berlin, he added. He then alleges France has not leapt on Greece for delaying proposed eurozone reforms and in exchange has received business in the shape of their warships

being leased. Mr Henkel said: “It is not a surprise to me that the French government is not only very forgiving when it comes to Greece constantly delaying her promised reforms. “It is quite

plausible that in exchange for further indirect or direct financial assistance, through the ECB and eurozone countries, Greece is encouraged to buy French ships. SCHÄUBLE WARNS GREECE TO

CONCLUDE NEW AGREEMENTS FAST “Of course, it is always Germany which takes the largest share of the funds provided and the risks taken. “Indirectly, the German taxpayers will foot the largest

part of the bill for French-made warships for Greece. “On might, however, take the view that it is justified because Greece spends much more per Gross National Product on defence as

compared to Germany, which falls way short of its commitment of 2 percent.”