The Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, is on a visit to London, where on Monday, 16 October 2023, he opened the works of the Greek – British Symposium 2023 on “Energy Security and Sustainability in Europe”.

From the British side, the works of the Symposium were opened with an address by the UK Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Graham Stuart.

In his address, Mr. Dendias discussed the global security challenges, the war in Ukraine, and Hamas’s terrorist actions, which are condemned by the International Community and our country. He also stressed the role of Greece as a hub for the energy security of Europe.

The Greek Minister then went to the UK Ministry of Defence, where he had a working meeting with his new counterpart, Grant Shapps.

After the meeting, Mr. Dendias stated the following concerning his visit to London:

“First of all, today I had the opportunity to address the Greek-British Symposium, together with the Minister of Shipping and Island Policy, Mr. Christos Stylianidis, and talk about the Greek strategic options in the field of energy. About the fact that Greece has become a reliable energy hub for the supply, not only of the Balkans, but also of Central and Eastern Europe.

Shortly after, I met with my British counterpart, Mr Shapps, with whom we had a long talk, first of all about the situation established after the criminal attack by Hamas against Israel. We discussed each other’s interpretation of the present situation and also agreed on the constant exchange of information and views as the situation develops.

Furthermore, we discussed the situation in Ukraine, the close cooperation of the Armed Forces of our two countries, and the effort to jointly establish an innovation ecosystem, so as to enhance the Hellenic defence industry and have a closer cooperation with the respective ecosystem of the United Kingdom.

I look forward to a very close cooperation with the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is a well-known, reliable security provider and I think that we can be taught many things, especially from its mechanism to assimilate lessons learned from the war in Ukraine”.

On Tuesday, 17 October 2023, the Minister of National Defence will meet in London with MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Defence of the Labour Party, John Healey, as well as Baroness Julie Smith of Newnham, Liberal Democrats Lords Spokesperson for Defence.