The strengthening of the strategic partnership between Greece and France in the areas of defence and security, as well as bilateral relations in general, will be at the heart of the consultations to be held by the French President, Emanuel Macron, with Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, according to reports today in French media ahead of Macron’s arrival in Athens.
In particular, in a publicationunder the headline “What will Macron do in Greece on Friday and Saturday?” on the website of the TF1 television station, it is quoted that “this visit is of particular importance in an environment of growing geopolitical uncertainty and is expected to be an opportunity to ratify the renewal of the initial strategic partnership agreement in the field of defence and security”. It goes on to note that according to the Elysée Palace, the visit “will highlight the historic ties” and “the shared commitment to European values and close cooperation in all areas, in particular in defence, economy and culture”. It also stressed that the visit “will contribute to strengthening and broadening the strategic cooperation between France and Greece” and that Paris and Athens are expected to “renew the 2021 strategic partnership for defence and security cooperation, which will now be tacitly renewed”.
Also, the paper stressed that, according to Greek diplomatic sources, the French President’s visit is aimed at “promoting further deepening of cooperation in areas such as the economy, civil protection and innovation“, and that what is being promoted as an “absolute priority” for Athens is maritime security, with particular emphasis on the Straits of Hormuz. Finally, particular emphasis is also placed on the issue of protection of young people online, as Greece and France are among the first EU countries to promote initiatives to regulate the use of social media by minors and are at the forefront of the development of a European regulatory framework. In the same vein, reports on the CNEWS website titled “Macron in Greece on Friday to boost defence cooperation” and on the TELEGRAMME website titled “Why Macron’s visit has ‘special importance’ for Greece”.
Finally, the radio station EUROPE1, in an article on its website entitled “After Cyprus, Macron goes to Athens to strengthen defence cooperation between France and Greece”, adds that the talks will also focus on the Naval Group, which is a candidate for the sale of four Barracuda submarines to Greece.
