Nikos Panagiotopoulos

Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos on Thursday signaled Greece's willingness to launch talks for the acquisition of two new navy frigates in talks with his French counterpart Florence Parly in Paris. 

Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos on Thursday expressed Greece's willingness to launch talks for the acquisition of two new navy frigates in talks with his French counterpart Florence Parly in Paris. 

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has told visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Turkey, through its actions, is questioning the sovereignty of both Greece and Cyprus. Mitsotakis added that he expects a "positive contribution" from the United States.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Athens on Friday evening, where he was greeted by Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias.

On Saturday, the US official will meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Dendias and Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on October 5, after travelling to Italy, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, the State Department said on Friday.

Seeking to stem rising migrant flows into Greece, a government plan is currently under way to seal land borders and improve sea surveillance "from one end of the Aegean to the other."

Security and municipal services on the Greek island of Lesvos held an emergency meeting Monday after administrators of a refugee camp said they were overwhelmed by the number of arrivals from nearby Turkey.
The camp at Moria on the Aegean Sea island began turning away new arrivals Friday as the number of people at the site exceeded 12,000, four times its intended capacity.

Talks between Athens and Washington on modernizing the mutual defense cooperation agreement between the two NATO allies is close to completion, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos tells Kathimerini in an interview.

Athens said on Monday that it was concerned but not "panicking" over a large concentration of Turkish naval forces in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean as part of a large military exercise, as well as the movement of the Oruc Reis survey vessel near the Greek continental shelf. 

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Greek counterpart Nikos Panagiotopoulos briefly discussed bilateral and regional issues in a courtesy call on Tuesday.
Akar congratulated Panagiotopoulos for his appointment, according to a press release by Turkey's defense ministry.