The Minister of National Defence Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, accompanied by the Chief of HNDGS General Konstantinos Floros and the Chief of HNGS Vice Admiral Stylianos Petrakis, visited, on Friday 28 January 2022, the Frigate “PROVENCE” of the French Navy which is stationed at the Port of Piraeus.

The Minister of National Defence was welcomed to the FREMM type Frigate by the Ambassador of France to Greece Mr. Patrick Maisonnave.

The Minister of National Defence Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos delivered the following address:

“Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am greatly pleased and honoured to be here today, on board the Frigate “Provence” of the French Navy, at the port of Piraeus. Your presence in Greece and the exercises that you will conduct with our Hellenic Navy, is another tangible proof of the strong, constant and strategic relation between Greece and France, in the field of Defence and Security.

Your visit comes to be added to a series of important activities of our defence cooperation, which took place this year, in the month of January. I refer, of course, to the visit that we paid, together with my French counterpart, Minister Parly, to the shipyard of “Naval Group” in Lorient, on 13 January, where the three new frigates Belh@rra of the Hellenic Navy, which will reinforce the defence of our country, our sovereignty and our sovereign rights, will be built.

And a few days later, with an exceptional satisfaction, pride and enthusiasm, we received, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in Tanagra, the first six out of 24 “Rafale” aircraft, which will provide our Hellenic Air Force with an even greater power and supremacy to cope with any threat or challenge.

This event was followed by the visit of the French Chief of the Armed Forces, General Burkhard, on 21 January, and the signing, with the Chief of HNDGS General Floros, of the Common Guidelines for the deepening of the bilateral Military Cooperation.

These so important milestones in our defence Cooperation, reflect the strong will of our countries at a bilateral level, as well as in their capacity as EU and NATO partners, to deepen and expand their defence Cooperation, as has been provided for by the Agreement for the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership in Defence and Security cooperation, signed in Paris last September.

Today’s visit is a continuation of these important achievements which point out that our countries’ ties are based on shared values, loyalty to freedom, Democracy, Rule of Law and Human Rights; and, of course, on the respect and defence of International Law, of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as on our common objective of stability, peace and prosperity in the wider area of Eastern Mediterranean.

These strong ties between Greece and France which are 200 years old were also pointed out by the frigate “Provence” and its visit to Astypalaia two days ago, for the crew of the vessel to pay tribute to Hippolyte Bisson, Officer of the French Navy, who lost his life there, 1827, during the French Revolution.

I would also like, in concluding, to underline that the Cooperative Exercise of the frigate “Provence” with vessels of the Hellenic Navy and aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force in the Aegean Sea, which will be conducted over the next days, aims to develop a common strategic culture and to further reinforce the interoperability between the Armed Forces of Greece and France, in order to face security threats and challenges in our wider region.

Commander, Captain Nicolas Vandebrouck,

Your presence in Greece is a tangible proof of the strong ties, the true friendship and the strategic relations between our countries. I would like to welcome you and express to you and the crew of the frigate “Provence” my best wishes of total success in your very important mission.

Thank you.”