On 7 April 2025, the Deputy Minister of National Defence Thanasis Davakis, as head of the Security and Defence Committee Working Group of the Greece-Saudi Arabia High Level Strategic Cooperation Council, met in Riyadh with his counterpart, the Deputy Minister of Defence for Strategic Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Major General Salman Al-Harbi.

The two Deputy Ministers discussed practical matters regarding the further precipitation of the bilateral cooperation concerning the 19 initiatives in the area of Defence and Security announced during the first meeting of the Greece-Saudi Arabia High Level Strategic Cooperation Council held in Al-Ula on 13 January 2025, while at the same time they confirmed the commitment of the two countries for a rapid enhancement of their bilateral relations.

Mr. Davakis stated with reference to the above:

“The rapid enhancement of our strategic relations with Saudi Arabia is a priority of the Hellenic Government. The area of Defence and Security is a basic pillar of this bilateral cooperation.

In this context, with my counterpart, the Deputy Minister for Strategic Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Major General Salman Al-Harbi, we discussed the practical steps that have to be taken from now on to quickly proceed with the implementation of the projects included in the 19 initiatives that the two sides agreed upon in January 2025.

Following the guidelines of the Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, who chairs the Security and Defence Committee of the Greece-Saudi Arabia High Level Strategic Cooperation Council , as well as in cooperation with the stakeholder Ministries, we will proceed along the axes we discussed today”.