James Mattis

Ahead of a meeting Tuesday with Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, US Defense Secretary James Mattis praised Greece as a "solid" and "excellent" ally and described Souda Bay base on the island of Crete as "one of our most important ports of call in the Mediterranean."

Ahead of a meeting with Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, US Defense Secretary James Mattis on Tuesday praised Greece as a "solid" and "excellent" ally and described Souda Bay base on the island of Crete as "one of our most important ports of call in the Mediterranean." 

US Defense Secretary James Mattis on Tuesday praised defense cooperation with Greece, describing Washington's NATO partner as a "solid" and "excellent" ally.

Greece could become the United States' gateway to the Balkans and the Middle East, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said on Monday, at the opening of Greece's pavillion at the international defense systems exhibition AUSA 2018, in Washington DC.

"Greece is exiting the crisis and can become a gateway for the United States to the Balkans and the Middle East," the minister said.

Romania's Defence Minister Mihai Fifor said on Thursday that on the visit he had scheduled to the United States he will convey the message that Romania intends to fulfill all its committed military obligations.

The US is ready to welcome Macedonia as NATO's 30th member if its citizens decide to support this path at the forthcoming referendum, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said in Skopje on Monday after meeting Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Defence Minister Radmila Shekerinska.

The referendum should decide whether Macedonians accept the change of their country's name - a deal Skopje has reached with Athens.

Last week, another symbol of Greece's post-junta era was buried in the cemetery of history. The symbol is anti-Americanism, which was one of the building blocks of our national mythology after the fall of the military dictatorship and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos expressed certainty on Wednesday that the name deal with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will be approved by lawmakers when it is brought to Parliament.

Speaking to Real FM radio, he said there is a "safe majority" in Parliament which will ensure the deal's passage.

Forty-four members of the US Congress, including Greek-Americans Gus Bilirakis of the Republican party and John Sarbanes for the Democrats, have written a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis urging him to cancel the planned delivery of more than 100 F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.