France, which will assume the six-monthly presidency of the club of 27 on January 1, is committed to working to strengthen the European strategy and to "
ensure that the EU gives itself the means of its sovereignty
", indicated Friday the head of French diplomacy in Athens. "
France will try to bring the concept of the strategic compass to fruition and collectively prepare the European Union for the new geostrategic environment (...)
", assured Jean-Yves Le Drian after an interview with his counterpart. Greek Nikos Dendias. He stressed that "
the attempts at destabilization in our neighborhood are more and more numerous and more and more repeated
".
Read also Can France regain its legal sovereignty vis-à-vis the European Union?
"
The stake of this strategic compass is to ensure that the EU gives itself the means of its sovereignty and in this concept, Greece is a key country for the defense of our interests and the implementation of European sovereignty,
”he said.
France and Greece, both members of the EU and NATO, have strengthened “
their strategic partnership
” in recent months
.
At the end of September, the two countries signed a strategic agreement in Paris providing for a mutual assistance clause by "
all appropriate means
" if the two countries "
jointly find that an armed aggression occurs against the territory
" of one of the two. .
Read alsoCybersecurity: sovereignty and security are inseparable
As part of this agreement, France will sell Greece three frigates while Athens has already announced its intention to acquire six additional French Rafale fighters, in addition to a previous contract of 2.5 billion euros, signed in January, for 12 used Rafale and six new ones.
For Athens, this agreement meets
Greece's "
needs
" and strengthens its armament program to counter Turkish provocations in the eastern Mediterranean, against which France is one of the few EU countries to have publicly protested these provocations. last years.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/3FI7KHR4GI7ABUOQDZ3ENWASZQ.jpg)
