Nikos Dendias: What was discussed during his visit to Israel

Greece is focusing its attention on the strategic partnerships it has built in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially on Israel and Egypt, at a time when the geopolitical importance of the region is increasing.

Greek-Egyptian ties were reaffirmed at the Mitsotakis-Sisi meeting in El Alamein, with the Prime Minister accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and National Defense. At the same time, the tripartite Greece-Cyprus-Israel summit meeting, which was postponed due to the illness of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been rescheduled for September 3-4.

On Monday, Nikos Dendias traveled to Israel, his first visit after Cyprus and Egypt, underlining the strategic nature of the relations between the two countries and emphasizing the possibilities of cooperation in the field of research and development in the defense industry.

Defense cooperation

The Israeli Minister of Defense Job Galant underlined that the defense cooperation between Greece and Israel touches a number of sectors, noting that the cooperation in the defense industry also contributes to both the security and the economies of the two countries. Greece and Israel, Galand emphasized, are sending a message to “enemies and partners” that they are joining hands “to ensure stability and security in the wider region”, while he also emphasized the cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus and within the framework of the tripartite, which as he said is a promise of peace and prosperity.

“I am determined to enrich our defense industrial cooperation for the common benefit of our countries, societies and economies” said Dendias for his part expressing the will for close cooperation between Athens and Tel Aviv in the field of research and development, as well as in trying to create a similar ecosystem to Israel’s “among the defense forces, ministries and related companies, which could serve our defense objectives.”

Ahead of the tripartite meeting

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the forefront, Dendias reiterated that Greece opposes “any attempt to change the borders by the use of force and considers that aggressive revisionism is the biggest challenge we face in our region”, noting that Greece has created alliances with the goal of a new era of stability and prosperity in the region, in cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus and always on the basis of respect for International Law, sovereignty, and the sovereign rights of all countries in the region.

For Athens, after all, the tripartite and multilateral cooperation schemes were and are a confirmation of its role as a factor of stability in the region, but also of Greece’s willingness to act as a bridge between its Eastern Mediterranean countries and the Arab world with Europe and the West. Initiatives that were particularly utilized during the period of tension with Turkey, while they now acquire their own meaning in the new geopolitical scene that is taking shape and which also has energy at its center.

In the tripartite Greece – Cyprus – Israel planned in Nicosia, the issue of the expanded format, the 3+1 in which the USA also participates, is expected to be discussed, in terms of the possibilities for a meeting, as well as the perspectives that may develop in the next space. It is recalled that recently Israel also normalized its relations with Turkey and even if the elements of suspicion remain, it is expected that Netanyahu’s first visit to Ankara, which was also postponed due to his illness, will be rescheduled in the next period and will be the first visit of an Israeli prime minister to Turkey in 15 years.