On Tuesday 8 April 2025, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias paid a formal visit to Lebanon, after accepting an invitation by his counterpart Michel Menassah, who received him in Lebanon’s Ministry of Defence in Beirut. After a private meeting between the two Ministers, discussions between the two delegations took place.
After meeting the Minister of Defence of Lebanon, Mr. Dendias stated:
“Dear Minister, dear Michel, I would like to thank you for this cordial welcome.
As I said in private, there’s a much better feeling in the atmosphere in Beirut, Lebanon, and your warm hospitality and your invitation for me to come here is greatly appreciated.
We had a very fruitful discussion and we agreed to continue our very close relations and also try to help from our side, Greece, as much as we can, towards the prosperity and security of Lebanon and the whole region.
As I had the opportunity to tell you, this is of a great priority for us, we are in the vicinity, we are friends, we are neighbours, and we believe in the future of Lebanon. I would like to repeat that we welcome the composition of the new Government of Lebanon, of which you are a proud member, and also we welcome the election of President Aoun, who will receive me later today.
Allow me to remind that the Greek Prime Minister, Prime Minister Mr. Mitsotakis, was the first foreign leader to visit Lebanon after the ceasefire agreement, and that shows the priority Greece attaches to Lebanon.
We have agreed that Greece will try its utmost to help Lebanon and especially the Lebanese Armed Forces and we are going to do as much as we can to establish an even closer contact and cordial relation than the one we have today.
And we will, from our side, continue to promote Defence Diplomacy on the basis, of course, of regional cooperation which has a solid foundation on International Law and the International Law of the Sea. We believe that this is the best basis for all the countries in the region.
Again, let me thank you and tell you that we very much believe in the future of this beautiful country, Lebanon”.
In the framework of his visit, Mr. Dendias was received by the President of Lebanon, General Joseph Aoun in the Presidential Palace in Beirut, in the presence of the Minister of Defence of Lebanon.