The aim was to strengthen Greece‘s deterrent power from the sea, but also to reaffirm the strong bilateral relations between Greece and France the official visit to Athens of the French Defence Minister, Sebastien Le Corneille, who was in succession at the MoD and the Maximos Mansion.

Stating that France‘s position is that “the issue of maritime defence is the cornerstone” of bilateral discussions, Mr. Lecorni exchanged views with his Greek counterpart on the whole range of geopolitical developments, starting with the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, the ReArm Europe Project, and Ukraine, while also sending messages to Ankara, without naming it. “For many, many years, this is perhaps the first time in many years that we have seen the sea route experience such instability and destabilization,” the French minister remarked, with Nikos Dendias had previously described that “Greece is always confident that France will take into account in its decisions the security of Greece and the need for Greece to maintain a comparative technological advantage of deterrence against the forces of revisionism. It is known to everyone, we have not hidden it, Greece does not threaten, but is threatened,” Dendias noted.

Apart from the common understanding towards the geopolitical challenges of the wider region and the need for common European defence and innovation, the Greek Defence Minister emphatically excluded “third countries” from this perspective, leaving Turkey out. As Dendias said, “Greece appreciates the important contribution of France to the consultations and also the leadership that France can provide in order to create a common European environment since we agree that we need to reduce our dependencies on third parties.” He went on to say that “we need to limit funding to these third parties, and I am referring to those who act in a dubious way in terms of the strategic interests of our Homeland.”

Meanwhile, after the bilateral meeting between Lecorni and Dendia, a signing ceremony for an Intergovernmental Agreement for the supply of 16 EXOCET missiles was held, while “our contract for the advanced NH-90 helicopters is already being executed,” according to the Greek Minister of National Defence.

According to reports, the supply of 16 French Exocet anti-ship missiles, as reported by protothema.gr, is intended to equip both frigates and Rousseau-type missile boats, which carry older versions of Exocet missiles. The modernization of the fleet by upgrading its weapon systems was, moreover, the main field of the Greek Defense Minister’s talks with his French counterpart, with Nikos Dendias announcing the acquisition of a fourth FDI (Belharra) frigate.

Visiting with his French counterpart the French frigate FREMM “Alsace” in the port of Piraeus, he said “the supply of the three Belharra, and the fourth one for which I hope that the CSCEO will accept my proposal, will, I think, give an even greater depth to the possibilities of cooperation between our navies,” Mr. Dendias, adding that “and together with RAFALE, I think that we can now have with the French Republic a wide range of systems that we share and that we can use together for the security of the citizens of Europe, for the stability and security of the Eastern Mediterranean.”

Following this, and following the last meeting of the Parliamentary Arms Committee, where the Long-Term Defence Equipment Planning (LMP) of the Armed Forces (AF) 2025 – 2036 was presented by the political and military leadership of the Ministry of National Defence, Tomorrow is the turn of the GSC, where the agenda is expected to be monopolised by the new armament program of the Armed Forces, contrary to reports that this was supposed to be about laying the cable.

At the same time, reactions to the acquisition of the fourth Behlarra were provoked by the opposition, with PASOK MP Michalis Katrini and SYRIZA MP Symeon Kedikoglou citing the need for “transparency and credibility” and “surprise” respectively, in the wake of the announcement by Mr. Dendias’ announcement regarding the further strengthening of the fleet’s frigates.

Renewal of the agreement

However, for the first time since 2021, the Minister of National Defence openly raised the issue of renewing the German-French defence agreement, when “Article 2 of the Agreement safeguards the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both our nations, and our common interests”, as Dendias reminded in the current geopolitical context.

“Greece is always confident that France will take into account in its decisions the security of Greece and the need for Greece to maintain a comparative technological advantage of deterrence against the forces of revisionism. It is known to everyone, we have not hidden it, Greece does not threaten, but it is threatened”, the Defence Minister explained, to conclude that “considering the strategic importance of the ’21 Agreement, I also believe that bilateral discussions for its renewal should begin”.