ATHENS, Greece - Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Tod D. Wolters met with Greek and U.S. leaders today in Athens to discuss a variety of topics related to peace and security.
While in Athens, Wolters met with the Minister of National Defense, Mr Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, and with the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, Gen Konstantinos Floros.
During these meetings, Wolters thanked Greece for their important contributions to the NATO Alliance and discussed continuing to grow upon the existing strong relationship.
Greece is a strong and committed NATO Ally, which makes concrete contributions to our shared security. Greece helps promote peace and stability in the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, and beyond. Greek troops play an important role in NATO missions from Afghanistan to Kosovo, while also making valuable contributions to NATO’s maritime posture and supporting different NATO partnerships. They also facilitate deployments in the Aegean Sea, helping to cut the lines of illegal human trafficking.
Greece also leads by example when it comes to defence spending – investing 2 percent of GDP in defence. All of this shows Greece’s strong commitment to NATO’s collective security and projecting stability beyond our borders.
A U.S. general officer, Wolters also discussed the Greek-U.S. relations being at a high point in terms of the U.S. – Greece military relationship.
Wolters thanked Greece for their cooperation on Souda Bay, the flagship of U.S.-Greek military cooperation. It is not only important to U.S. European Command, but also to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command.
This was General Wolters’ first trip to Athens since assuming role of SACEUR in May 2019.