Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu joke prior to signing bilateral agreements, during a meeting in Athens, Greece, on April 14, 2025. [Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters]
The close defense relations between France and Greece were affirmed Monday during the visit of French Minister of Defense Sebastien Lecornu.
In practical terms, the two countries signed a 33-million-euro agreement for the procurement of 16 French-built Exocet anti-ship missiles and, specifically, the more advanced version MM40 Block 3. They will complement the existing, earlier makes of Exocet now in Greece’s gunboats.
Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias told Lecornu that he will propose the activation of the option to buy a fourth advanced French-built frigate.
Present at the signing of the Exocet deal was a representative of MBDA Systems, the multinational that also builds Meteor missiles. France’s proposal to sell the radar-guided air-to-air missiles to Turkey had miffed the Greek government and had momentarily put a damper on bilateral defense cooperation.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who also met Lecornu Monday, warned that the European Union needs to reduce its dependence for its defense on countries that “act in a manner that runs counter to its strategic interests.”
“Our two countries consider that the ReArm Europe plan offers a solid basis for achieving the strategic autonomy of the European Union. It is an objective that we have worked toward together, from the beginning, with [French] President [Emmanuel] Macron. The aim is to strengthen, as a union, our level of preparedness and the capabilities of our defense industry, to reduce our dependencies and not to maintain them,” Mitsotakis said in comments before the press.
“In particular, we must reduce our dependence on countries that act in a way that runs counter to the strategic interests of the European Union. And we must protect the national security and defense interests of all member-states, without exception,” he added.
It was clear that Mitsotakis’ comments were aimed at Turkey, but, in the current geopolitical climate, they could also come to include the United States.
For his part, Lecornu said that France and Greece could cooperate in shipbuilding, citing specifically the Naval Group, builders of the frigates, and the Skaramanga Shipyards. Cooperation could extend to munitions, he said.