The General Director of National Defence Policy and International Relations of the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence, Dr. Konstantinos P. Balomenos, accepting an invitation from his Austrian counterpart, Dr. Arnold Kammel, participated in bilateral consultations on 22 July 2021 in Vienna, as head of a Greek delegation, in the context of strengthening bilateral defence relations. This meeting took place following a similar visit by the Austrian official to Athens on 02 September 2020.
On Wednesday 21 July 2021, according to the schedule of the two-day visit, the Greek delegation visited the Orthodox Holy Trinity Cathedral in Vienna. During the visit, the Higher Commissioner of the Ecumenical Throne, Ioannis Nikolitsis, informed the Greek delegation about the rich historical past of the Greek community in Vienna and performed a service in memory of Rigas Feraios-Velestinlis.
Subsequently, the Ambassador of Greece to Austria, Ms Koika Aikaterini, gave a working lunch to the General Director of National Defence Policy and International Relations, Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos and the other members of the Greek delegation. During lunch, foreign policy and security issues were discussed and information was provided on the actions of the Greek community in Austria.
On Thursday 22 July 2021, the General Director Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos visited the Austrian National Defence Academy and participated in a workshop of experts on “Hybrid Threats”. Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos held a lecture on “Countering Hybrid Threats” where he presented the conceptual definition of hybrid threats, outlined the hybrid threats facing Eastern Mediterranean states and presented a holistic approach model to address them. During his lecture, Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos, also referred to the migration crisis in the Evros region in March 2020 — when Turkey mediated the invasion of thousands of migrants/refugees on the Greek/European territory — and gave an extended presentation on the crisis response process followed by the Greek authorities.
On the same day, Dr. Arnold Kammel, General Director of Defence Policy Planning and International Relations of Austria, welcomed the Greek delegation to the Austrian Ministry of Defence, led by his Greek counterpart Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos, as well as the Greek Ambassador to Vienna, Ms. Koika Aikaterini, where they held bilateral consultations. During this meeting, the two officials had the opportunity to exchange views on issues of mutual interest, such as developments in the Western Balkans, the political and security challenges in the Balkans in general and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Important views were also exchanged on the issue of coherence between EU defence initiatives, European border security and Resilience of EU and Union Member States in the context of the under development Compass Strategy, while current developments in the NATO context were also discussed.
The two Defence Policy Directors examined the possibility to expand their defence cooperation on military and training activities, exercises and co-training at bilateral level. In addition, the prospect of developing defence cooperation against hybrid threats and other challenges faced by each country was also discussed. At the conclusion of the talks, it was decided to establish a common framework for action to further strengthen bilateral relations.
The consultations took place in a very warm climate and confirmed the strong bonds of friendship between the two countries.
