{"id":18986,"date":"2024-11-26T13:06:04","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T13:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18986"},"modified":"2024-11-26T13:06:04","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T13:06:04","slug":"greek-prime-minister-meets-with-nato-head-in-athens-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18986","title":{"rendered":"Greek Prime Minister Meets with NATO Head in Athens (video)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis focused on bolstering the European Union\u2019s defense capabilities during discussions with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Athens on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mitsotakis stressed collective defense repeatedly, and particularly called for increased defense investments from Europe, such that there could be a \u201cmore efficient cooperation between the EU and NATO\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He noted that Greece had sent proposals to EU leaders regarding defense, \u201cespecially on finding budgetary space, especially for those countries that want to invest more in this area, so that all member states can be more effectively shielded, and on the need for anti-missile protection, following the recent developments in Ukraine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FFkUYeCYl6Y?si=fOIshq9idumCiZE3\" width=\"560\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The prime minister argued that Greece was a particularly important ally for the defense alliance, stating: \u201cWe discussed in particular the constructive role of Greece, because indeed our country is recognized as a strong pillar of security, stability and democracy in this sensitive and troubled southeastern wing of the alliance and with Greece\u2019s special interest being directed to the southern neighborhood, under the shadow of tragic developments in the Middle East.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mitsotakis also underlined that Greece is a leader in defense spending in the EU, investing over 3% of its GDP, and noting the country did so even during the peak of its economic crisis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mitsotakis mentioned Greece\u2019s continued support for Ukraine, particularly during the coming winter, and hopes for a coming ceasefire deal in Lebanon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For his part, Mark Rutte described Greece as a loyal ally and said that Greece\u2019s contribution of over 3% of its GDP shows the country has \u201clong made security a priority\u201d. He\u00a0 commended Greece for its \u201chighly skilled military and increasingly advanced capabilities\u201d. Rutte thanked Greece for its support for Ukraine and stated further support was needed. He warned about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nato.int\/cps\/en\/natohq\/news_230815.htm\">growing threats<\/a> from Russia\u2019s actions in Ukraine, and Iran\u2019s use of drones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Rutte\u2019s visit comes on the heels of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tovima.com\/politics\/nato-secretary-general-mark-rutte-in-athens-on-tuesday\/\">his trip to Turkey<\/a>, where he met with the country\u2019s President, Recep Erdogan and discussed collective security issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 20px;\">\n<p><em>Source: <\/em> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/politics.einnews.com\/article\/763913344\/ujrvI_WFrQ_6xwY8?ref=rss&amp;ecode=kmfm9fDbRbj4OPCJ\">politics.einnews.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis focused on bolstering the European Union\u2019s defense capabilities during discussions with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Athens on Tuesday.\u00a0 Mitsotakis stressed collective defense repeatedly, and particularly called for increased defense investments from Europe, such that there could be a \u201cmore efficient cooperation between the EU and NATO\u201d. He noted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}