ATHENS – The strategic relationship between Greece and the United States is based on common historical and cultural values, Greek National Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said at the American defense base in Souda Bay, Crete, on Thursday.
Panagiotopoulos was invited to the base by outgoing US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt on the occasion of a visit by US House of Representatives members Salud Carbajal (head of the delegation), Rich Larsen and Tony Gonzalez. The minister was accompanied by Hellenic National Defense General Staff chief, General Constantine Floros.
They were all briefed by the commander of the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Center, while Panagiotopoulos spoke on the state of security in East Mediterranean and Greece’s support to Ukraine’s defense of its territorial integrity. The minister also underlined that Greece is consistently meeting its NATO and European Union obligations. General Floros spoke of the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on security in the greater region, and of prospects of further expanding Greek-US strategic collaboration.
In a post on Twitter, Ambassador Pyatt said he was “honored to visit NSA Souda Bay, the crown jewel of our US-Greece defense relationship” and to showcase “all we’re doing to advance our shared strategic goals in the East Med & beyond, strengthened by our MDCA”. [ANA-MPA]
