Panagiotopoulos-Lekorny meeting: The focus is on security in the Eastern Mediterranean

Bilateral meeting with his French counterpart Sebastien Lécornu had the Minister of National Defense Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, on the sidelines of the launching ceremony of the first Defense and Intervention frigate of the French Navy, which took place at the facilities of the Naval Group, in Lorient, France.

Matters of mutual interest were discussed at the meeting, with an emphasis on the security situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the developments in Ukraine and the further strengthening of bilateral defense cooperation. Furthermore, Mr. Panagiotopoulos had a meeting with officials of the French Navy and was informed about their work.

In his statements to ERT, Mr. Panagiotopoulos (pp. on his statement that Greece and France stand together in the face of these challenges and stand against any form of revisionism) observed that “not only Greece and France, the entire European Union, the entire NATO with their stance in the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, does nothing but condemn and stand against all forms of revisionism. Everyone without exception! So it’s good that this message gets across in all directions.”

At the same time he reminded that in the defense agreement between Greece and France (last summer) among the other provisions is the mutual defense assistance clause. A recent statement by the French foreign minister was cited according to which, “the French stressed that whatever happens this clause of mutual defense assistance will be applied if required and therefore on this solid base, we are building and doing even more. In the context of defense cooperation between Greece and France, announced that until 2025, 203 different activities, joint trainings, exercises, etc. will take place. This number alone, I think, is enough to prove beyond any doubt the breadth and depth of this defense relationship” , he said characteristically..

Answering a question about the possibility of activating the option for the fourth Belh@rra or even for the corvette program, the Minister of National Defense clarified that “we are waiting and will receive very soon the final proposals of the companies interested in the corvette program or the activation of the option, i.e. the alternative, of acquiring a fourth Belh@ rra according to the initial agreement.However, in order to decide we too must have the final proposals in our hands.

I believe that they must answer some basic questions, especially regarding the financing and participation of the Greek shipyards. We want the corvettes to be built in Greek shipyards, he repeated, and once these questions are answered, we have no choice but to make the final choice, something that will be done quite soon, as I estimate.”

Finally he announced that two more Rafale they will arrive within the next few days and will be based at their base, the 114th Fighter Wing in Tanagra.

RES-EMP

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