The General Director of National Defence Policy and International Relations of the Ministry of National Defence, Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos, held a meeting on Wednesday 31 August 2022 with representatives of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces of the French National Assembly, Senators Isabelle Raimond-Pavero and Catherine Dumas. The main focus of the discussion was the security environment in the Eastern Mediterranean, as shaped by the impact of the geopolitical developments in the wider region.

The purpose of the meeting, from the French side, was to better understand and become aware of the magnitude of the challenges and threats in the region with a view to finding ways to address them both by France and at EU level. The general debate is part of an investigation conducted by the above officials aiming to the conclusion of a report to be submitted to the French Parliament.

In the discussion, which had been co-ordinated by the General Director, both sides first referred to the excellent bilateral level of the Greek-French Cooperation.

Dr. Balomenos analysed the problems and the possible consequences of Ukraine’s war on global security, underlined the fact that Greek assistance had been sent to Ukraine composing of humanitarian aid and military equipment. He also referred to the penetration effort and the destabilising role of Russia and China in the Balkans, the EU and the MENA region.

The General Director presented Turkey’s relations with China and Russia stressing Turkey’s destabilising role in the Eastern Mediterranean and its revisionist policy at the expense of Greece through hybrid strategies, such as the instrumentalisation of migration.

In closing, he underlined Greece’s role in the wider Mediterranean region as a pillar of stability, with emphasis on the development of multilateral-bilateral cooperation schemes, such as the quadrilateral cooperation between Greece, France, Italy and Cyprus.