The meeting US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias, whom the head of the State Department called "my friend", began in a warm atmosphere.
In the dialogue they had in front of the cameras before the start of the fourth round of the US-Greece Strategic Dialogue, Nikos Dendias welcomed Blinken to Athens, pointing out that since their previous meeting "we experienced Russia's invasion of Ukraine."
"The fact that amidst all these developments showed that the cooperation between Greece and the USA has become closer," emphasised Dendias, who stressed that "US-Greece cooperation strengthens regional security and stability."
At the same time, the Greek Foreign Minister noted that on the agenda of the meeting are security, defence, humanitarian and environmental challenges, and regional issues.
“There are still many new events that have taken place since our last meeting. The participation of Alexandroupolis in the natural gas pipeline was very important," noted Dendias.
"Nikos, my friend"
"Nikos, my friend, thank you very much," said, the head of the State Department expressing his joy is in Athens to start the fourth strategic dialogue.
He then stressed that this dialogue reflects the depth of Greek-American relationship over 20 years.
As the American official noted, Greece has become a hub in the region for the US military and that jobs have also been opened as a result.
Dendias welcomes Blinken
At the same time, Dendias underlined that "we want to help NATO even more in supporting Ukraine," while he made special reference to the fact that "Greece helped very quickly in dealing with the earthquake in Turkey."
He did not fail to mention the close relationship between the two peoples as he noted on the one hand that "more than 1 million Americans live or visit Greece" and on the other hand, one of them was the US president "who calls himself Bidenopoulos."
After the conclusion of the meeting, a press conference will follow at approximately 10:30 in the morning.
The Greece-US strategic dialogue
The 3rd round of the Greece-USA Strategic Dialogue had taken place in Washington in October 2021.
The areas of cooperation covered by the Strategic Dialogue are: Regional Issues, Defence and Security, Law Enforcement and Counter-Terrorism, Humanitarian Challenges and Disaster Preparedness, Trade and Investment, Energy and Environment, and People-to-People Ties.
The talks in the framework of bilateral relations are expected to focus on ways to further strengthen strategic bilateral relations, in all sectors as well as regional and international developments.
The program
On the program of the US Foreign Minister is a meeting with the president of SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, at theHotel Grande Bretagne.
Later, Blinken is scheduled to take a guided tour of the Ancient Agora with Culture Minister Lina Mendoni. He is also expected to have a meeting with EMAK rescuers who visited Turkey a few days ago.
READ MORE: Greeks present at Indigenous Voice to Parliament event in Sydney.
