Today, Tuesday 8 September 2026, the Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, met with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto at the Italian Ministry of Defence in Rome.

After their meeting, the two sides signed the Implementing Arrangement between the Hellenic Republic and the Italian Republic activating the acquisition programme for two Italian FREMM type (Bergamini class) frigates in the presence of the two Ministers.

In particular, the Implementing Arrangement was signed by the General Director of the General Directorate for Defence Investments and Armaments of the Ministry of National Defence, Major General Ioannis Bouras, and the Armaments Director of Italy, Vice Admiral Giacinto Ottaviani.

The signing of the Implementing Arrangement, pursuant to the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the Statement of Intent for the acquisition of the Italian FREMM type frigates signed on 29 September 2025 in La Spezia, Italy, during a meeting between Mr. Dendias and Mr. Crosetto, was also attended by the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitrios Choupis, the Chief of the Defence Staff of Italy, General Luciano Portolano, the Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras HN, the Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy, Admiral Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto, and the Ambassador of Greece to Italy Eleni Sourani.

During the joint press conference with the Minister of Defence of Italy, Mr. Dendias stated the following:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to be here today in Rome, almost one year after La Spezia, for the signing of the Implementing Arrangement, which gives substance to the FREMM frigate acquisition programme.

On 29 September 2025, in La Spezia, with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the Statement of Intent, we laid out the common will of Greece and Italy for a cooperation with a strategic and operational footprint. Today, we are building on that foundation.

The first FREMM frigate, “Carlo Bergamini”, is expected to be transferred to Greece in the first half of 2028, while “Fasan” in the first half of 2029. But the goal for Greece and Italy is not just the transfer of the two frigates.

The goal is close cooperation, the upgrade of deterrent power. It is the Italian cooperation to the adaptation of the Hellenic Navy to the requirements of the new era.

The FREMM frigates are highly capable ships and, with the intended modifications – we are already in discussions with their manufacturer, Fincatieri – we will make them even more powerful.

Together with the FDI and the ΜΕΚΟ frigates, they will constitute the core of the Hellenic Fleet’s power in the new era.

But I am also here to discuss broader cooperation with Italy.

First of all, the possibility of the acquisition of two additional FREMM ships, but also the common view of things. Greece and Italy are maritime nations. They share the same vital sea space in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. Together we have approximately 90% of Europe’s merchant fleet. So, our common geography also creates a joint responsibility for the security of maritime routes, freedom of navigation, the protection of energy and trade routes, and stability in our broader region.

But this agreement also serves a new perception we have regarding the involvement of Greek shipyards and the Greek defence industry, the Greek defence ecosystem, the adaptation of the new systems our country acquires.

This dimension is an organic element of the “Agenda 2030” so that the know-how stays in the country and creates a national Greek productive capital.

So in conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say that today’s agreement is part of a consistent course of strategic convergence between Greece and Italy.

It is a consistent course. In 2020, we delimited our maritime zones, thus establishing our relationship in International Law and the International Law of the Sea, UNCLOS. I was very proud to sign this agreement as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

And in 2025, together with the dear Minister, Guido Grosseto, in La Spezia, we shaped the framework of our new strategic cooperation in the area of defence. Today, here in Rome, we give substance to that agreement signed in La Spezia.

Dear Minister, dear Guido,

Thank you for the trust, earnestness, and consistency that marked this course.

From La Spezia to Rome, we honoured our word.

Today, this word becomes a commitment.

Thank you.”