The Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias concluded today, Tuesday 17 December 2024, his visit to Doha-Qatar, which begun with his meeting with the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

Afterwards, the Minister of National Defence visited the, recently constructed and inaugurated, building of the Ministry of Defence of Qatar, where he met with his counterpart, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani.

The two Ministers discussed on matters pertaining to regional and international Security, the situation in the broader region, bilateral military cooperation and the prospective enhancement of the Greek-Qatari cooperation in the field of defence industry.

In the framework of his visit, Mr. Dendias visited the structures of the State Defence Industry Company “Barzan Holdings”, the strategic investing arm of the Qatari Defence Ministry, where he was toured by its Managing Director, and had the opportunity to exchange views on a prospective cooperation with the HDIC, in the field of innovation.

After concluding his meetings in Qatar, Mr. Dendias made the following statement:

“A little while ago, my official visit to Qatar, In Doha, was concluded.

I had the opportunity to be received by the country’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and to share an extended bilateral meeting with the Minister of Defence.

With my counterpart, we discussed initially the bilateral framework, our defence cooperation; the possibility to provide training and accommodation to Qatar’s Air Force – as you all know, Qatar also uses the “Rafale”, just like us – but also to form an axis of cooperation, with the effort made in HDIC and the Hellenic defence innovation.

I also briefed my counterpart on the content of the “2030 Agenda”, the great effort we are making for the reform of the Hellenic Armed Forces.

However, besides these topics, we also had the opportunity to a deep discussion regarding the general situation in the Middle East, the situation in Syria, the situation in Lebanon, in particular after yesterday’s visit of the Greek Prime Minister, Mr. Mitsotakis, as well as the situation in Gaza.

We also discussed on the broader possibility of us, the Greek side, being able to participate, playing a constructive role, in the effort to achieve a peace and stability outline.

Finally, I would like to underline that Qatar is a country that has signed the UNCLOS, the International Convention on the Law of the Sea. I had the opportunity to explain to my Qatari interlocutors the importance of UNCLOS and the achievement of understanding on the basis of the International Law of the Sea in international matters, in general”.