ATHENS – The strategic upgrading of our cooperation with the US constitutes a guarantee of safety, stability and also a source of growth and prosperity with the Greek-US relations reaching a historic peak” said Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias at a joint press conference with visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo underlining that “today we are inaugurating a new era”.

Expressing his satisfaction over the signing of the Mutual Defence Cooperation Agreement (MDCA), Dendias noted that “the strategic collaboration between the two countries is being significantly upgraded while in parallel our common volition to guarantee the effectiveness of our defence potentials is highlighted in the best possible way”.

Dendias said that this agreement constitutes a stabilising factor in the region, supports Greece and the bilateral relations and serves the US but also operates as a factor of stability in the wider region and as a factor that does not turn against anyone, but it exists and is visible in the context of the international rules and is a message to anyone who believes that can function in the region beyond the rules of the international law and the law of the Sea.

The Greek minister also sent a clear message to Turkey. “We must and should all operate in the context of the international rules. We are truly seeking good neighbourly relations with everyone and we understand all the positions but we always operate in the context of the international law”.