Minister of National Defence, N. Dendias, attends 3 rd Maritime Security Conference

Minister of National Defence, N. Dendias, attends 3 rd Maritime Security Conference

April 28, 2026

On Tuesday 28 April 2026, the Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, participated as keynote speaker in the 3rd Maritime Security Conference, which was held at the Eugenides Foundation.

The Conference entitled "Maritime Security in an Era of Geopolitical, Geo-economic, and Technological Disruption" was organised by the Council for International Relations, the International Propeller Club (Port of Piraeus), the S4GEO (The Society for Geopolitics), and the Foreign Affairs Institute, in cooperation with the School of Maritime and Industrial Studies of the University of Piraeus and the Institute of International Relations of Panteion University.

The Conference was attended by the Commander of the Naval Training Command, Rear Admiral Stefanos Sarris HN, as representative of the Chief/HNGS, representatives of the maritime, business, and academic communities, as well as representatives of international organisations.

In his speech, the Minister of National Defence stated the following:

"Thank you very much for this very kind invitation.

Distinguished guests, I will spare you from reading a well-prepared speech, as I feel I came here to talk, not to read. So, you will allow me to present my opinion on how the Hellenic Armed Forces and the Greek Government address the current maritime security environment. I clearly understand - and it is totally expected, of course - that the Conference is mainly focused on what is happening in Hormuz, which constitutes - and I absolutely agree - an enormous challenge for maritime safety and for the global economy. So, the Conference underlines the enormous challenge that we are facing in Maritime Security.

However, let us see where we are exactly. If we view the situation through Greek eyes, from the Greek point of view, regarding new realities, I would like to begin from something a little less obvious. From something that we do not discuss, but which is there and changes a lot of things. I am talking about the northern route, the northern maritime corridor, which changes a lot of data, as well as the security challenges that we will have to face in the coming years.

I will not expand further on this topic, but please, always bear it in mind. I have to say that there are brave and far-sighted Greek seafarers, who already use the Northern Corridor. However, this Northern Corridor changes the architecture of the security we need to provide; maritime security. And, of course the Black Sea. The challenges in the Black Sea still persist. The Black Sea is being used but we cannot call it safe. I am certain, that you have extensively discussed about the Strait of Hormuz. I will not expand on the Strait of Hormuz per se, but, naturally, it is not the only chokepoint. Bab el-Mandeb is a few hundred miles to the east and every year, the Houthis tell us that they are going to close it again.

Finally, maybe we need to be grateful that the Strait of Malacca is still open, because its very existence challenged the essence of the freedom of navigation. We never thought, and I do not think that anybody had, apart from the war analysts in Iran, that there would be a day, when the Strait of Hormuz would be completely closed off. As if that were not enough, the challenges that we are facing in the modern maritime environment are not only found on the surface. They extend far below that, to critical undersea energy and communication infrastructure. Those we have to protect as well.

Therefore, in this environment, we, Greece, have to make choices. We do not punch above our weight. We are a small in population, medium-sized country. Of course, we are also the country that possesses the biggest merchant maritime fleet in the world, that relies upon open communication lines; and that does not only affect numbers or statistics. I always point out the effect on the lives of Greek and European citizens. Inflation "kills" the economy and especially affects the poorer among us.

Freedom of navigation is not an abstract notion. It is not something that only concerns experts on International Law, lawyers, ship-owners or Officers of the Navy. It concerns all of us. Each and every one of us. So, for Greece, these are the international challenges and I have to tell you that I am not forgetting a challenge that is close to us. Closer to our home. Because we still have a neighbour who understands the International Law of the Sea in a rather peculiar way.

For example, our dear friends in neighbouring Turkey, openly claim that islands are not entitled to continental shelves. That islands, no matter their size - Crete for example - are not part of the Exclusive Economic Zones, that the Aegean Islands sit on the Asian continental shelf. Those claims are presented in all seriousness in international fora and, I have to tell you, that if a University freshman who attended lectures on International Law, for example, had written that, they would either have failed miserably on their exams or their co-students would be laughing to tears. But then again, we have to address that kind of position on serious fora around the world.

Now, what are we doing? First, regarding legal issues, Greece has always proclaimed that UNCLOS, the International Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a "Holy Gospel" for us, as it should be for the whole world. For me, it should be the "Holy Gospel" for all countries in the world. Regardless of if they have signed the UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People) or not, asmost countries have done. There are countries that totally accept UNDRIP, although they have not signed it, like the United States of America.
The actual truth is that the United States have signed the Declaration, but it has not been ratified by the Congress. But that's on a legal level. We have to be more practical. Now, I will tell you what we're doing. We're totally reforming ourselves in order to be able to address the challenges.

Mr. Chairman, was kind enough to make a reference to our new frigate, "KIMON", the picture of which you can see right behind me. However, "KIMON" is only the visible tip of the iceberg; that iceberg being the "Agenda 2030" and the Hellenic Armed Forces. And when somebody asks me what we are changing, my answer is very simple and very quick: we are changing everything, except for our values.

We 're changing how the Hellenic Navy operates. We're changing the assets of the Hellenic Navy. Let me give you an example. As you may know, we are buying 4 frigates fromGroup Navale, French frigates, the FDI, the Frégate d'Intervention. These are not just a more modern variant of the MEKO class or other frigates, which we already possess.
They are a different kind of vessel. It is a different thing. And why is that? Because, let me tell you, those 4 frigates belong to a category, which is not the kind of frigate that the French Navy operates. The French operate the Standard 2 type frigates.

We 're going to operate the Standard 2+++. And I had the opportunity to explain to President Macron, just 3 days ago, what we have changed, and he was quite impressed. I think the French will upgrade their FDI to "+++" class. The "+++" class has a capacity of carrying 32 strategic missiles, as opposed to the 12 anti-aircraft missiles of the French frigates.

And that will also be the capability of the new Bergamini-class frigates, which we are going to acquire from Italy. 10-year-old frigates, big vessels, even bigger than the FDIs, weighing more than 6,000 tons, able to operate in the open seas. I repeat, frigates that will be able to carry strategic missiles. That is going to be our deterrence, but also our capacity to be present in operations that safeguard freedom at sea.

Naturally, the obvious question I am being asked is: what about the Aegean? What about what is most important to Greece? My answer is very simple. Of course, we will safeguard the Aegean Sea. We will safeguard the Aegean much better than we did up until today, but we are going to do it in a much more sophisticated manner. We are going to do it with missiles. We are going to do it with unmanned vessels. We are also going to do it with smaller vessels on the surface of the sea, but also with unmanned vessels below the surface. In this manner, we 're going to safeguard the Aegean in a much cheaper way than we used to do and we're going to ensure that our biggest platforms have freedom of operation and deterrence. Because, as
we knew up until now, the scenario that we were facing was that somebody "would come", as we were told, and occupy a small island. And then Greece is called upon to decide: "What are we going to do? Declare a full-scale war? Invade Eastern Thrace? Conduct a small operation to recover something that should be extremely difficult? What are we going to do? What is the dilemma? And then, in such a scenario, the attacker has the advantage". Well, in a future instance of the sort, the potential attacker will have to bear in mind that we have the capacity and we will have the capability to respond with a substantial number of strategic missiles, launched from platforms that will be dispersed, not just in the Aegean, but also in the Eastern Mediterranean and wherever we think that will be useful, while those platforms will also be protected. And, if need be, those same platforms will be able to find themselves in the Red Sea, where the Frigates HYDRA, PSARA, and SPETSAI operated with great success during Operation ASPIDES in the past month.

By the way, the Operation ASPIDES has a Greek name because it was Greece that advocated from the beginning that the European Union must have an operation to safeguard the Red Sea and the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. And it is not an honour for the European Union that the only countries constantly participating in the operation are Greece, Italy, and, at times, the Netherlands, and Germany. When we are speaking about a geopolitical view. And Ursula von der Leyen was speaking about the geopolitical commission. If we want to be taken seriously, we have to do a lot more than that, as Europe. But that is a different story. Now, let me be clear to you.

Greece is not and should not become "Türkiye-centric". Türkiye is not our main problem and it should not be our main problem. We should only be capable enough to deter any threat coming from our neighbour.

Greece must have, a 360-degree approach. And please remember that from those 360 degrees, more than 220, 230 degrees, if you take a look at our geography, face the sea; from the Northern Aegean to the South of the Adriatic Sea. So how we operate in a maritime environment and how we are able to operate in a maritime environment are of cardinal importance. Apart from the platforms, which I mentioned to you, there are a lot more data, which would take hours to explain.

In addition, we invest in humans - our human resources. We have improved the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre, which trains the best personnel in operating within the maritime environment, the best special forces the world has ever seen, so that they are able to safeguard our interests in the maritime environment. And as the name suggests, it does not only concern Greece, but the entirety of NATO. So, NATO's finest come to train with us.

But again, that is not enough. Things have changed and they have changed substantially. And you have to be present, of course, at sea, just as you have to be present in the air, and you have to be present on land. But that is not sufficient anymore. The world has changed.

That is why, in the framework of the "Agenda 2030", which I have been advocating for since 2023, namely the first day took office in the Ministry of National Defence, we started an initiative that we called the "Achilles' Shield". Now, why do I call it the "Achilles' Shield"? Because it refers to the second shield of Achilles - I mean that of the Greek hero we remember from the Trojan War. In that war, when Patroclus was killed, Hector took all the weapons. So, Achilles had to plead with his mother in order to have new weapons crafted.

Among them, there was that infamous shield. That shield has 5 layers. Professor Chatziemmanouil was kind enough to remind me of the 5 circles that I was talking about in my previous speech. It seems I have a special relationship with the number 5. These 5 layers of Achilles' Shield represent the sea, land, air, but also the cyber- and outer space.

Up until now - up until 24 months ago - we didn't have any serious capability on those two latter levels. So we are working very hard on both of them. I will not speak about cyberspace, although that would be extremely interesting, but I would like you to know that it is the first time in our history, that Greece already has two mini satellites in space; two mini photographic satellites, and we 'll proceed with creating a whole constellation in the next few years. We will reach between about 13 or 14 satellites. So, thanks to those mini satellites, we are able to make photos available to our own forces, in order to have them analysed within a minimum amount of time.

And we do not have to rely on others to provide us with exceptionally significant information. Of course, the areas we were talking about are included in the area that those satellites can take photos of. In addition, we are planning and we will acquire the first Greek-owned communication satellite. Because in the modern world, if one does not possess communications, they have nothing. And without a satellite, one cannot safeguard their communications in the modern environment.

So, to cut a long story short, we are transcending from a traditional environment, which includes a number of frigates and other ships, to a totally different environment, in which unmanned vessels, modern platforms, satellites, and human resources, under a holistic approach, which is called "Achilles' Shield" and the use of modern communication equipment will be able to guarantee, in the name of the Hellenic Republic, the maritime security in the areas, where we have vital interests.

Thank you very much".