Greece
Greek Chief of Defence General Houpis in Saudi Arabia: two-day visit to Riyadh and Yanbu, home of the Greek Patriot battery
Greek Chief of the Defence General Staff Dimitrios Houpis completed a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, meeting his counterpart in Riyadh and visiting the Greek Patriot battery at Yanbu. It is the third high-level Greek visit in three weeks.
The Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitrios Houpis, completed on Monday, November 2, a two-day official visit to Saudi Arabia, with stops in Riyadh and Yanbu, where the Greek Patriot battery is stationed. The Greek chief arrived in the Kingdom on the morning of Sunday, November 1, and according to the HNDGS announcement the visit contributes to maintaining and further developing military cooperation between Athens and Riyadh.
In Riyadh, General Houpis visited the General Staff of the Saudi Armed Forces and met his counterpart, General Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwaili. During his stay he was awarded the Order of King Abdulaziz by the Saudi side.
At Yanbu with the men of ELDYSA
The second part of the mission concerned the Hellenic Force in Saudi Arabia (ELDYSA). The Chief of the General Staff went to Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast, where the Greek air-defence missiles are deployed, spoke with the unit’s personnel and thanked them for their work.
ELDYSA has been present at Yanbu since 2021 under an agreement with Riyadh. In recent months it has successfully repelled many ballistic missile and drone attacks, the latest incident being at the end of September.
Three Greek visits to Saudi Arabia in three weeks
General Houpis’s visit is the third high-level Greek mission to Saudi Arabia in three weeks. Hellas Journal writes that it was preceded on October 15 by Defence Minister Nikos Dendias, on a trip that had not been announced in advance, and followed on October 25 by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The sequence of visits, the same outlet assesses, reminds Riyadh that Athens stood by its side in difficult moments, beyond the thanks of the Saudi leadership.
The future of the battery remains open. Nikos Dendias said recently that it is logical for the Greek Patriots’ presence in the kingdom to be extended, noting that the Saudi side “made a move to fulfil its financial obligations”. The minister and military sources stress that, after these visits, the Saudis have fully honoured what was agreed at all levels. The question of the Greek battery’s stay at Yanbu is expected to be raised in the coming days at the scheduled KYSEA, the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence.