Tough statements by the Minister of National Defence on the Ukrainian drone and a new message on German-Turkish with spikes on security and “calm waters” in the Mediterranean.
In a highly charged geopolitical and defense environment, the latest positions of the Defense Minister Nikos Dendias at the Athens Defence Summit bring critical security issues in the Eastern Mediterranean back to the forefront, from addressing asymmetric threats to the balance in Greek-Turkish relations. On the occasion of an incident with the Ukrainian maritime drone and operational reports around the development of anti-aircraft systems, the public discussion is reviving around the readiness of Greek armed forces, while at the same time political references to the country’s internal stability and strategic direction add another level of tension to the already volatile scene.
In this context, the debate shifts from a fixed focus on Greek-Turkish balances to a more complex security matrix, where the recent findings on the alleged “Ukrainian drone” incident in Lefkada take on particular weight. Linking operational assessments to broader regional threats highlights that defence analysis is no longer limited to a bilateral geopolitical domain, but extends to hybrid forms of threats affecting security in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, reinforcing public concern around preparedness and deterrence.
Something extremely dangerous
The finding on the Ukrainian drone found full of explosives in a sea cave in Lefkada was mentioned among other things by Nikos Dendias, speaking at the Athens Defence Summit (ADS), the opening of which he announced earlier.
“I’m not going to talk about the finding, it’s something extremely dangerous, it’s a Ukrainian sea drone – Ukraine should apologize – if it had hit a cruise ship it would have gone to the bottom of the sea,” the Defence Minister said.
“We will ask for a self-reliant government”
Dendias also referred to the polls on the political scene that predict coalition governments, stressing that the goal of New Democracy is to form a self-reliant government.
“We will ask for a self-reliant government, but this depends on the Greek people,” the Defence Minister said.
“They did not go to face the Turkish threat”
Nikos Dendias did not fail to mention the issue that has arisen with the Patriot missiles in Karpathos.
“They did not go there to deal with the Turkish threat, but missiles from Iran that have not been launched for six weeks,” he explained, while on the issue raised by Turkey he stressed:
“I have warned about Turkish centrism, they were never placed there for Turkey. It was the operational planning for Iran, it is a national decision we did not ask NATO to go and get them.”
I don’t believe the “calm waters” narrative.”
Finally, Mr. Dendias made it clear that he is not among those who have believed the “calm waters” narrative.
“It is up to Turkey whether we will return to an operational crisis, we are not claiming anything,” he said.
