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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron (center) visit the French-built Belharra frigate Kimon, in Piraeus, Saturday. After extending a mutual defense pact during a ceremony in Athens, the two leaders said efforts to strengthen defense \u200cat \u200bthe EU level should be thought of as a complement to NATO rather than \u2060a replacement for the alliance. [Reuters] \n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Greece and France renewed their defense pact Saturday as European nations seek to bolster their deterrence strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis signed an overarching agreement titled \u201cEnhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Greece and France.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agreement covers defense, economy and development, investment, civil protection, migration, education, vocational training, scientific research, nuclear technology, the environment and culture, as well as cooperation within the framework of the EU and other international organizations.<\/p>\n
The two countries extended their defense agreement \u2013 first signed in 2021 \u2013 for another five years, with automatic renewals thereafter, following the Macron-Mitsotakis meeting at the latter\u2019s office, the Maximos Mansion.<\/p>\n
The renewal of the Defense and Security Partnership Agreement was signed by Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, as well as Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou for Greece. Also, \u00a0Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin and Delegate Minister in charge of Europe Benjamin Haddad signed for France.<\/p>\n
Also in attendance were Greek military commanders, including the chief of the National Defense General Staff and the chief of the General Staff.<\/p>\n
The push to strengthen defense capabilities has taken on greater urgency since Greece and France first signed their agreement on the issue five years ago.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Iran have become major strategic challenges for the European Union, especially amid rising uncertainty over transatlantic relations and US threats to withdraw from NATO.<\/p>\n
The agreement notably includes a mutual defense assistance clause in the event that the sovereignty of either country is threatened.<\/p>\n
This agreement is being renewed as it is nearing the end of its five-year term. The agreement will now be automatically renewed every five years, unless one of the two parties withdraws from it.<\/p>\n
Macron said that EU\u2019s guarantees of mutual assistance are actually stronger than those provided by NATO with Article 5 of its founding treaty.<\/p>\n
These remarks chime with Macron\u2019s repeated calls for the EU to play an independent role in defense and security and his belief that the US is now an unreliable partner, adding that the Chinese, Russian and US leaders are all dead set against Europe.<\/p>\n
Earlier Saturday, the leaders visited the French-built Greek naval frigate Kimon in the port of Piraeus.<\/p>\n
On Saturday afternoon, Mitsotakis and Macron visited the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, where they spoke at the Greece-France Economic Forum.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n