On Friday, 4 December, the Minister of National Defence, Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, attended the two-day works of the European Defence Agency (EDA) Annual Conference.
The Minister participated in a high-level discussion on “Increasing European defence cooperation in times of crisis” with the Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE), Ms. Nathalie Loiseau, coordinated by the EDA Chief Executive, Mr. Jiří Šedivý.
The Minister stressed the need to achieve a strategic autonomy in the Union by strengthening its operational capacity and resilience, developing the defence capabilities of Member States, and building cooperation between them to promote the role of the Union as a reliable security provider. Furthermore, he highlighted the important role played by our country in protecting EU security interests in the East Mediterranean.
Mr. Panagiotopoulos emphasised the great importance that Greece attaches to European defence initiatives, which should not only focus on crisis management through the Common Security and Defence missions, but also on the security of European citizens and Member States by strengthening their defence capabilities and gradually developing a Common Defence Policy of the Union.
Replying to questions from the audience, the Minister stressed that Greece consistently spends more than 2% of its GDP on defence, even during the current pandemic and the huge economic problems it brings, since it has to deal with specific direct threats from Turkey.
To a question on the successful presence of Greece in the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP), Mr. Panagiotopoulos replied by mentioning the systematic work done and the cooperation between the Armed Forces, the industry, and the academic and research community. He added that, to this end, a High-Level Working Group has been created within the Ministry of National Defence to coordinate the effort in order to be able to succeed in a European environment that is expected to become even more demanding.
On the second day of the Conference, addressed were also delivered by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Mr. Josep Borrell, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Mr. Thierry Breton, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană, and others.
