ATHENS – Greek National Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos attended the launch ceremony of France’s first all-digital Belharra-class frigate FDI-FR1, held at Naval Group’s shipyard at Lorient, France, on Monday.

The Greek minister was invited to the event by his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu.

The launch of the new frigate, which was built for the French Navy, “in conjunction with the procurement of new [Belharra] frigates for the Greek Navy, concurrently with the arrival of the RAFALE aircraft [in Greece], proves the strong will of both Greece and France to further strengthen their cooperation for stability and prosperity in the broader region of the Eastern Mediterranean, based on the rules of International Law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Panagiotopoulos underlined.

Panagiotopoulos also expressed his satisfaction with the progress in the simultaneous construction -at Naval Group’s shipyards- of the second frigate intended for the Greek Navy, and he welcomed the company’s cooperation with Greek companies in the defense industry, “as is also provided for in the agreement for the establishment of a Strategic Partnership between Greece and France,” he noted.