PARIS — "I just signed an agreement of strategic significance for defence and security, which is the outcome of an effort that started in July 2018 and is mostly the fruit of the last 18 months that led France to commit to standing by [Greece's] side in the summer of 2020," stated French President Emmanuel Macron during joint statements with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday, after the end of the ceremony for the signing of an agreement for a strategic partnership in defence and security between Greece and France.

Macron underlined that Greece and France had worked closely over the last summer, with the effort culminating in the agreement to strengthen and intensify cooperation on the basis of their common interests.

He also added that "we want to protect the integrity of both our countries by promoting the security and stability in our common regions."

Macron also referred to a deepening of cooperation in strategic decisions concerning the military sector, something which found expression, as he said, in the Greek decision to buy the French Rafale aircraft and three Belharra frigates constructed in France.

"This cooperation is part of the mutual plan of our commitments at an EU and NATO level by expanding and strengthening relations for the protection of our region in the interest of peace and security in the Mediterranean and the Balkans," Macron said.

The agreement supports European independence, the strengthening of European sovereignty and world peace, said Macron in his statements, while noting that this cooperation has no "senior" party because "we are speaking of a common peace". The French president noted that the two sides "have a common vision, that of our common interests and stability. A will to act and work together."

"In addition, I must point to the exhibition we inaugurated on Monday. Greece had a civilisation before it became a nation and allowed us to be the world we are today. Greece is the country that for the last 200 years was able to follow an ineffable path, that of independence, and be a part of the heart of Europe. France, for centuries, fought its own battle for the ideals of Greece's independence and will continue to do so because it is something existential for both your people and our people," Macron added.

Finally, President Macron expressed his solidarity with the quake stricken on Crete.