Seven out of 30 allies met NATO’s military spending target of 2% of GDP in 2022, one country less than in 2021 before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, urging allies to boost defense investment more quickly.
The Greek Defense Ministry is expected to decide next week whether Athens will propose to Lockheed Martin the inclusion of SSI (security, supply, information) and infrastructure programs in the F-35 fighter jets package with the participation of the Greek defense industry.
Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos has said he would not rule out a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, in the near future, an invitation for which has already been extended from the Turkish side.
The US Department of State has approved the potential purchase by Greece of a number of assault amphibious vehicles; the cost is estimated at $268 million.
Greece and Israel signed the 2023 Defense Cooperation Program in a meeting in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (HNDGS) announced.
Turkey is ready to open a channel for dialogue to solve its problems with Greece “peacefully,” the country’s Defense Minister, Hulusi Akar, said in an interview to the Anadolu news agency Sunday.
Disputes with Greece can be peacefully resolved through dialogue, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, while expressing his optimism over the sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
Cyprus will earmark 2% of gross domestic product to defense spending in line with other European Union member states as a means to strengthen the east Mediterranean island nation’s foreign policy bargaining power, the new Cypriot president said Friday.
Greece participated in the French multinational drill Orion 2023 with the Adrias frigate from February 22 to March 7, within the context of the military cooperation between the two countries, enshrined in the agreement signed between the Greek Chief of the General Staff of the Hellenic Armed Forces Konstantinos Floros and French Chief of Defense Thierry Burkhard.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with visiting Defense Minister of France, Sebastien Lecornu, in Athens on Thursday.
Apart from the confirmation of the strategic relationship that the US has now built with Greece, the visit to Athens of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken served to signify the close ties in the field of defense and security.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed Greece’s clear refusal to the possibility of sending Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine during a dinner in honor of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Athens on Monday evening.
Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias welcomed his American counterpart Anthony Blinken to Athens on Tuesday, saying cooperation between Greece and the United States has become even stronger and its strengthening promotes common interests, as the two officials launched the start of the 4th Greece-US Strategic Dialogue.
The excellent level of Greek-American relations was confirmed by the visit to Athens of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had a private meeting on Monday night with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who then hosted a dinner in his honor.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday called for Sweden and Finland to be accepted into NATO “as quickly as possible,” although his Turkish counterpart dismissed the possibility of any link between their accession and Turkey’s request for F-16 fighter jets.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that it is a “national interest and security interest” for the Biden administration to upgrade Turkey’s current F-16 fleet and provide new warplanes to its NATO ally, after talks with his counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
