The Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias had a bilateral meeting with the French Minister of Defense Sébastien Lecornou, today, Wednesday, October 4, after the launching ceremony of the “Kimon” frigate, at the facilities of the Naval Group, in Lorient, France.

As announced, the Minister of National Defense met with his French counterpart at the base of the Special Operations Force of the French Navy.

The focus of the meeting was the further strengthening of the strategic defense cooperation between Greece and France.

Mr. Dendias and Mr. Lecornou also exchanged views on the security situation in the Eastern Mediterranean region, the war in Ukraine and developments in the countries of the Sahel region.

Earlier today, the Minister of National Defense first inspected the construction works of the “Nearchos” frigate and then attended the launching ceremony of the FDI HN1 “Kimon” frigate.

The ceremony was also attended from the Greek side by the Secretary General of the Ministry of National Defense Antonis Oikonomou, the National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister Thanos Dokos, the General Director of the General Directorate of Defense Forces Vice Admiral (M) e.a. Aristides Alexopoulos PN, the ambassador of Greece in France Dimitrios Zevelakis, the commander of the echelon of the Navy in Lorient, captain-in-chief Theoharis Hatzopoulos PN et al.

In his greeting, Mr. Dendias mentioned, among other things, that “Kimon” continues “the tradition of Greece for 2,500 years as a naval power, from ancient times until today”.

“This new state-of-the-art ship”, he added, “reinforces the armoring of our homeland, demonstrates commitment to the defense of our last rocky island, as is the constitutional duty of every Greek government”.

“It is also a factor of naval superiority and enables a wider security role, both in the eastern Mediterranean and beyond,” emphasized Mr. Dendias.

He referred to the strong long-standing ties between France and Greece, “solidarity, solidarity and, if required, mutual defense assistance to deal with any attack against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our two countries” and added: “Of course always at the base of International Law and the United Nations Convention”.

“After all, this is foreseen by the agreement which I had the honor to sign together with my colleague, Nikos Panagiotopoulos. The frigate building program is therefore another opportunity to strengthen cooperation between not only Greece and France, but also the French and Greek defense industries. And I wish for the expanded participation of the Greek defense ecosystem in the French defense ecosystem” he pointed out.

The Minister of National Defense also met with workers and representatives of Greek industries participating in the program.

Finally, Mr. Dendias went to the naval base of the Navy in Lorient and congratulated the commander and his staff for their contribution to the implementation of the FDI HN program.