The Minister of National Defence Panos Kammenos participated in the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs and Defence Council, which took place in Brussels.

The official statement of the EU member-states, with Greece being one of them, for participation in the establishment of a “Europe of Defence” was of particular importance.

Furthermore, in the presence of NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the next steps of the cooperation between NATO and EU were discussed. The Minister of National Defence welcomed the cooperation between NATO and EU but stressed the fact that there can be no European defence without respect towards Europe’s borders, making special mention of the eastern borders which are also the Greek borders. He also mentioned that it is unacceptable to have the Greek airspace violated because it is also the European airspace. The same stands for the Greek national waters which are also European.
 
The Council also discussed the substantial funding from the European budget of research and technology in the field of defence, as well as the development of the European defence industry through joint ventures.

The Minister of National Defence once more underlined the need to support the small and medium-sized businesses, public and private, the need for just geographical distribution of resources and transboundary cooperation, especially in the region of the European Union.

Finally, in the context of the EDA administrative council’s meeting, the Minister of National Defence analysed his proposal for a collective collaborative action regarding the firefighting aircrafts of the European Union aiming to protect the citizens and the environment.