Mitsotakis to Lithuanian President: EU Defence Cooperation Requires Respect for Members' Security
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda at the Maximos Mansion in Athens on Monday, 5 October 2026, and sent a clear message: participation of third countries in European defence programmes cannot be without conditions, and a third country must first and foremost respect the security interests of the European Union's member states, without any caveats.
Mitsotakis highlighted the need to strengthen Europe's defence industry and the scope for closer Greek-Lithuanian cooperation, with a focus on air defence and countering drones. He said European countries must not remain merely buyers of defence equipment, but evolve into co-producers within the European defence ecosystem. He placed particular emphasis on countering drones in a cost-effective manner, an area in which Greece is investing significantly, and referred to the defence system Greece is developing.
The prime minister also said defence should now be treated at European level as a European public good. As he noted, the experience of Greece and other European countries that rushed to support Cyprus in recent months showed that European solidarity can and must acquire an operational dimension, complementing NATO. Strengthening European defence will be a key priority of Greece's presidency of the Council of the EU.
Greece and Lithuania are among the NATO countries allocating a particularly high share of GDP to defence. The two leaders held a joint news conference after their meeting. Against the backdrop of Europe's defence autonomy debate and support for Ukraine, such bilateral coordination between member states holds a place in this month's diplomatic calendar.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 雅典总理府马克西莫斯宫。照片：PicturePrince，CC BY-SA 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons（Maximos Mansion 2024 03.jpg）
