Defense Min. Dendias: Greek airspace will become impenetrable under defense reform

A process is underway to make Greece's airspace impenetrable in a few years, National Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said in an interview published Saturday.

Dendias told 'Parapolitika' newspaper that this would be achieved through the plan 'Agenda 2030', the greatest reform in the Greek Armed Forces. The defense of airspace includes deflecting attacks by airplanes and drones through two shields covering the entire Greek territory, an anti-aircraft shield and an anti-drone one, so there is no possible defense shortfall compared to neighboring countries, he added.

Among other issues discussed, the minister provided an update on the mission of the Greek frigate 'Hydra', which is operating in the Red Sea under the European Union 'Aspides' plan to protect merchant shipping. The program is headquartered in Greece and run by Greek Rear Admiral Vassilios Gryparis. "Up to now," he said of the frigate's operation, "it has carried out dozens of missions of close protection on merchant ships and several monitoring missions, protecting free shipping in the region, in practice."

Commenting on Greek-Turkish relations, Dendias said "the lull in the field is obviously welcome." But he underlined that "we must not forget that Türkiye lies at a critical crossroads in terms of the direction it will choose once President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan retires from active politics," referring to a related announcement by the Turkish leader.