French Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin shake hands with her Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias after their joint statement during their visit at Greece's new French-built frigate "Kimon" as part of Vautrin's trip to Greece, at the Salamina naval station near Athens, on Jan. 29, 2026. (AFP)
The defense ministers of Greece and France on Jan. 29 said their countries were working to renew a 2021 defense cooperation agreement, under which Athens has purchased significant quantities of French-made weapons.
"We agreed with the minister to finalize the renewal of this agreement very quickly, within one to two months," Greece's Nikos Dendias said after talks with his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin.
The discussions were held at the naval base of Salamina on board the Kimon, a French-made Belharra frigate that sailed to Greece earlier this month.
Athens has agreed to purchase four Belharra defense and intervention frigates (FDI), having already ordered 24 Rafale fighter jets.
It has announced plans to spend a total of 25 billion euros ($30 billion) through 2036 in what conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called the "most drastic" defense overhaul in modern Greek history.
The drive, which includes a new anti-missile, anti-aircraft and anti-drone defensive dome called "Achilles's Shield,” is aimed at addressing rapidly changing geopolitical challenges and fraying transatlantic ties, the government has said.
Greece has traditionally invested at least two percent of gross domestic product on defense, NATO's longstanding spending target until recently, owing to decades of tension with regional rival Türkiye.
