Speaker
Description
As a small state, Greece has always been trying to enhance its national security by participating in several bilateral and/or multilateral cooperative schemes, in order to facilitate the countering of the numerous international and regional threats of the security environment. To this end, the Greek government –in the context of its participation in the European Union as one of its oldest member states– has been implementing a multifaceted defence diplomacy that aims not only at strengthening its military capabilities, but enhancing the European solidarity in the security & defence sector as well. One of the most impactful outcomes of the contemporary Greek defence diplomacy is the ‘Agreement between the Government of the Hellenic Republic and the Government of the French Republic on the establishment of a Strategic Partnership for Defence and Security Cooperation’ that was signed on September 28, 2020. The importance of the aforementioned Strategic Partnership lies in many factors, such as the fact that: (i) the agreement’s article 2 (mutual defence clause) provides for the mutual defence assistance between Greece and France, (ii) Greece has already purchased a number of ‘Rafale’ fighting aircrafts from France, and (iii) Greece has signed an agreement to acquire three ‘Belharra’ frigate warships form France, the first of which is scheduled to be delivered in mid-2025. The paper examines the content of this agreement, and how its implementation has affected the national security of Greece, in the context of the long standing aggressive Turkish foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean.
| What discipline or branch of humanities or social sciences do you identify yourself with? | International Relations (Security Studies) |
|---|---|
| If you are submitting an Open Panel proposal, have you included all four abstracts in attachment? | No, I am submitting a Closed Panel abstract |
| Are you a PhD student or early-career researcher? | Yes |
