The Minister of National Defence Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos attended the NATO Defence Ministers’ Meeting which took place at Brussels on October 9 and 10 2012.

After the completion of the Meeting, Mr. Panagiotopoulos made the following statement:

“During the discussions I had with NATO Secretary General Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen – as well as during the works of the NATO Defence Ministers’ Meeting, here in Brussels, and during the very important bilateral meetings I had with many colleagues, such as the American Defence Minister Mr. Leon Panetta, the French, German, British and Belgian colleagues – I had the chance to prove the obvious: That Greece may be a country currently experiencing financial difficulties –something also experienced in the past by other counties as well– that we will overcome. Yet what is most important for our country is that it is a key country for security issues in the broader region, but also for our neighbouring areas: the Balkans, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Arab countries.

Greece, due to its geostrategic and geographical position, thanks to its people and its prevailing Armed Forces, is a country that has offered a lot and will keep on offering to the North-Atlantic Alliance and to the Western world in general, and should thus have its Allies’ support, attention and respect.

In addition, I would like to stress out that we had the chance to make an essential intervention –among others– regarding the issue of illegal immigration, a very serious problem for our country and our people, which also affects border security. After raising the issue to the NATO Ministerial Meeting, we called for NATO’s attention as well –besides the EU– and expect to see it as an agenda issue at one of the Official NATO Defence Ministers Meeting”.