ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2023) US Assistant Defense Secretary for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander on Monday visited the "vital" for NATO Greek port of Alexandroupoli and the Larissa air base, where US MQ-9 Reaper drones are deployed, the Greek Defense Ministry said.
Wallander visited the military facilities as part of US State Secretary Antony Blinken's two-day official visit to Greece organized in the framework of the Fourth US-Greece Strategic Dialogue. Wallander was accompanied by Greek Deputy National Defense Minister Nikos Hardalias, National Defense General Chief of Staff Konstantinos Floros and other diplomatic officials, according to the ministry.
"Today, the Alexandroupoli area is vital to the North Atlantic Alliance's operational plans to strengthen its eastern flank against an increasingly unpredictable and aggressive Russia, and to the energy security of all of Southeastern Europe through extremely ambitious projects such as a floating storage and regasification facility," Hardalias said.
According to Hardalias, the rapprochement and cooperation between Greece and the US in defense and security is unprecedented. Among examples of cooperation, he cited the� F-16 Viper modification, ongoing bilateral exercises, the Souda air force base, facilities in the Greek town of Stefanovikio used by the US armed forces, and drones "operating from Larissa and Alexandroupoli."
"Greece's imminent acquisition of a squadron of fifth-generation F-35 aircraft will raise cooperation between the two countries' air forces to a level unprecedented for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans," Hardalias added.
In the port of Alexandroupoli, Wallander visited US and NATO aircraft reception and dispatch points in Central and Eastern Europe. At Larissa air base, Hardalias and Wallander visited facilities housing eight US MQ-9 Reaper drones with personnel and were briefed on the unit's mission, organization and current activities.
