Defense Minister Nikos Dendias is in Vilnius, Lithuania and met with his Lithuanian representative, Arvydas Anušauskas.

The focus of the discussion was, among other things, the further strengthening of our defense relations, both at the bilateral level and within the EU and NATO, as well as the security situation in the wider region.

“We are countries, as you said, with a geographical distance, countries that are on the periphery of the European Union and also, unfortunately, we are both close to war zones. Our cooperation has a symbolic character, among other things.

We had the opportunity to exchange views, to share knowledge on issues such as, of course, Ukraine, Africa, the issue of immigration, the situation in the Red Sea” said Nikos Dendias.

Regarding developments in Ukraine stated: “I will reiterate our position that we regard the invasion of Ukraine as a flagrant violation of its national sovereignty and International Law. And we are pleased to have recently joined the Demining Capability Coalition under your leadership and signed the Agreement in your presence in Brussels.”

As for her situation in the Red Sea the Greek Minister of Defense said: “I also had the opportunity to inform about the Red Sea. The issue of the Red Sea is very important to us, not only because we have the largest merchant fleet in the world but also the obligation we have to always protect our seafarers, but also because the situation there threatens the trade of the European Union, indirectly but to a significant extent the standard of living, the quality of life of European citizens and we will not allow this to happen.

And I am very happy that you also consider the European Union Operation Shields, the largest maritime defense operation that the European Union has ever implemented, to be very important.”.

“We also discussed for the defense of NATO and the European Union. Our position is that NATO is very important and we are both committed members of it and we see NATO not as an Alliance of armies but as an Alliance of values, which we both share and support.

As far as European defense is concerned, President Macron’s idea of ​​strengthening Europe’s defense capabilities and creating defense capabilities, not opposed to NATO but complementary to it, is of common interest to both of us, which will also give a different perspective in Europe.

I also had the opportunity to inform about our effort to create a defense ecosystem, to deal with the challenges in the field of Ukraine and beyond. And we will be very happy if Lithuanian companies also participate in this ecosystem.

We will be holding a major conference, a defense ecosystem conference, in the fall in Athens. France will be the honored country, but we would very much like Lithuania to take part in it as well. I know your interest in defense sector development.

I must say that meetings like this show our common will to work together to preserve our values, to preserve our principles, to preserve our countries.” concluded Nikos Dendias.

Mr. Dendias also made a relevant post on his personal account on “X”:

“In today’s warm welcome and meeting with the Minister of Defense of Lithuania Arvydas Anušauskas, we had the opportunity to discuss, among other things:

The further strengthening of our defense relations, both bilaterally and within the EU and NATO,
The latest developments on the security situation in our wider region and
The participation of Lithuania in the Greek Defense Innovation Ecosystem”.