On Thursday 5 November in Riyadh, the fourth conference of the Working Group for the “Committee on Defence and Security” of the Supreme Council for the Strategic Cooperation between Greece and Saudi Arabia was completed with the Signing of a Programme for Military Cooperation for 2027 and a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Cybersecurity.

The Greek delegation participating in the talks included members from the Ministries of National Defence, Citizen Protection, and the National Cybersecurity Authority, headed by delegate of the Ministry of National Defence.

In addition to signing the aforementioned bilateral agreements, progress has been made in almost all 19 initiative cards which form the core of the two countries’ strategic relationship, such as, indicatively, in the sectors of special education, military intelligence, healthcare, as well as matters of citizen protection.

Meanwhile, through an initiative on the Greek side, with the opportunity of the Working Group’s conference, and in the framework of initiative card 10 concerning the defence industry, an Industrial Cooperation Day was organised, where Business to Business (B2B) meetings were held between representatives of the two countries’ defence ecosystems. The meetings focused on the development of joint technological programmes and supply chains, as well as strengthening the cooperation of the companies in the defence sector in order to, inter alia, meaningfully foster the networking of the Hellenic Defence Industry in the Saudi Arabian market.

The Deputy Minister of National Defence, Thanasis Davakis, stated on the issue:

“The Hellenic mission in Saudi Arabia has achieved all the objectives we set for it. Objectives which concern matters such as signing – for the first time in years – a Programme of Military Cooperation for the new year, signing a memorandum between the Hellenic National Cybersecurity Authority and its counterpart of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as achieving progress in the common initiative cards concerning our strategic partnership.

Saudi Arabia is our strategic partner. The Working Group of the “Committee on Defence and Security” of the Supreme Council for the Strategic Cooperation and the initiative cards are the institutional tool for the promotion and implementation of this relationship in practice.

Meanwhile, networking and maintaining a presence of the Hellenic Defence Industry in the marketplace of a country with which we are tied to with strong bonds of defence cooperation is a main priority.

I want to thank my partners and the mission’s members for the efforts they have been making for months for the excellent preparation and conduct of the talks.

I believe we have moved ahead considerably”!