Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff General Konstantinos Floros received Friday, at his office in Athens, Master Sergeant of the Saudi Armed Forces Ahmed Al-Mutairi and his accompanying delegation, during their visit to the military academies of the Hellenic Armed Forces.

During the meeting, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense stressed the importance of cooperation between the two friendly countries, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

On 27 October 2021, Saudi Arabia and Greece agreed in a joint statement in Riyadh to increase bilateral military and economic cooperation at the end of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia

“The two sides discussed future opportunities for cooperation between the two countries with the aim of opening distinct fields of economic cooperation, facilitating ongoing interactions between Saudi and Greek business sectors and enabling commercial and investment partnerships within the framework of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 in order to scale up the volume of trade and investment exchanges between the two countries,” SPA reported.

In the field of defense, Saudi Arabia and Greece agreed “to work on raising the readiness status, levels and skills of their military forces through joint military exercises and maneuvers, and to coordinate and exchange military experience in order to achieve security for both countries and stability for the region.”

The two also agreed to work on localizing supportive technology and military industries.

On 20 March 2021, the military Chief of Staff of Saudi Arabia, General Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, met the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, Lt. General Konstantinos Floros.

During the meeting, cooperation and joint work relations between the two countries, especially in defense, were discussed, as well as issues of common interest.

Al-Ruwaili attended a flight demonstration by combat aircraft taking part in the “Falcon Eye 1” exercises at the Souda Air Force Base in Greece and met with the participants.

The Saudi Royal Air Force’s F-15C aircraft and the Hellenic Air Force’s F-16, Mirage 2000, and F-4 Phantom aircraft performed sorties and implemented training scenarios, including counter-insurgency and air support operations, and the destruction of ground targets.

Al-Ruwaili said that the Saudi Royal Air Force’s involvement in the “Falcon Eye 1” exercise in Greece comes as part of King Salman’s eagerness to provide unlimited support for the development of the armed forces.

He said that the goal of the exercise is to exchange military expertise between Saudi Arabia and Greece in order to strengthen cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries. This will help raise the level of combat readiness for both forces, he added.