ATHENS – At the invitation of Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff Lieutenant General Charalampos Lalousis, American Hellenic Institute President Nick Larigakis attended the transfer ceremony for an initial 44 U.S. Army M1117 Armored Security Vehicles to the Hellenic Army on December 2.

“It was a tremendous honor to attend the transfer ceremony,” President Larigakis said. “I appreciate Lieutenant General Lalousis for the invitation to attend an important event that underscores the significant progress made in the defense partnership between the two allies as expressed in the recently enhanced Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement. We applaud the American and Greek military officials who worked with great effort to make the event a reality.”

Larigakis added, “Greece is a vital and dependable NATO ally to advance U.S. interests and is a frontline state against terrorism. This transfer demonstrates this point.”

Eventually, 1,200 M1117 vehicles will be transferred to Greece at a value of nearly $1 billion and at no cost to Greece under the Excess Defense Article program. The next transfer of 400 vehicles is expected to occur in early 2022.

“This is a transfer which the U.S. military is making and which the U.S. Congress has endorsed, which reflects our commitment to continuing to build on the strength of a relationship that has reached a high point but is not yet at its summit,” U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt said in remarks to the audience. “This is an investment we are making in each other because a Greece which is stronger and more secure makes our alliance stronger and more secure, and therefore makes the United States stronger and more secure.”

The transfer took place at the 301 Military Factory in an Athens suburb.

The American Hellenic Institute is a non-profit Greek American public policy center and think tank that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community.

More information is available online: https://www.ahiworld.org/.