Greek armed forces chief meets Senator Rick Scott – defence cooperation, energy and the Eastern Mediterranean on the agenda

The Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS), General Dimitrios Choupis, met on Thursday, October 15, with US Senator Rick Scott, chair of the Senate Seapower Subcommittee, and with a delegation of the US Congress (Congressional Member Delegation, CODEL). According to the HNDGS announcement, “the focus was on defence cooperation, energy and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, confirming the strong ties” between Greece and the US “and the continuous deepening of their strategic relationship”.

Two days later, on Saturday, October 17, in an interview with the Associated Press in Athens, Scott accused Turkey of “bullying behaviour” towards Greece and Cyprus. “You don’t behave like a NATO ally when you take F-16s and fly over somebody else’s country,” he said. He also backed the Greece–Cyprus–Israel electricity interconnection and said the US would do what it can so that Turkey does not create problems, as we report in our related article. In between, on October 16, he had visited Cyprus and the UN buffer zone, according to his office’s announcement.

The Seapower Subcommittee

The Seapower Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee plays an important role in shaping US naval policy. According to the Committee’s website, it covers the planning and operations of the US Navy and Marine Corps, maritime issues, and the procurement and research and development of the two services. Its members include Republican Senators Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville and Tim Sheehy, while the ranking member is Democrat Tim Kaine. Scott, a US Navy veteran, represents Florida in the Senate.

The congressional delegation’s visit to Athens came a few days after the arrival of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the 6th round of the Greece–US Strategic Dialogue. The programme of the American lawmakers in Athens also included meetings with Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis and Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou. Energy is high on the agenda of the two countries, with Greece having become a gateway for American liquefied natural gas to Eastern and Central Europe.

Scott is one of Ankara’s sharpest critics on Capitol Hill. In August he launched a fierce attack on Turkey, calling on the “so-called ally” to behave like an ally. The senator has also met the HNDGS leadership before: in April 2023 he met the then chief, Konstantinos Floros, as we reported at the time. For Athens, contacts with members of the Armed Services Committee carry particular weight, since that is where decisions on military cooperation, armament programmes and the American presence in Souda and Alexandroupolis are made.