An Egyptian naval officer this month assumed the post of liaison at Greece’s navy general staff, part of ever closer military cooperation between Athens and Cairo.

The posting comes after a Hellenic Navy officer was dispatched and accredited to the corresponding Egyptian naval general staff late last year.

Military cooperation and joint training between the two countries’ militaries was substantially upgraded following a bilateral agreement to partially delimitate an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between the two states in the wider eastern Mediterranean – a development that enraged non-UNCLOS signatory Turkey.

Establishing and advancing a mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries’ armed forces, according to repeated official and unofficial statements by Greece’s political and defense leadership, revolves around respect for international law, and aims to guarantee peace, security and stability in the eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa.

In 2021, both sides also signed a bilateral agreement foreseeing joint training of personnel of all three branches, as well as the holding of joint exercises, the foremost being the “Medusa” exercise, which attracts participation from other states in the wider region and Euro-Atlantic actors.

Relations among “top brass” were also strengthened last year, as the heads of each country’s national general staff exchanged visits, while Hellenic National Defense General Staff Chief Gen. Konstantinos Floros accepted a high-profile invitation and participated in the inauguration of Egypt’s “3 July ” naval base on the country’s east Mediterranean, which was inaugurated by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The decision to exchange liaison naval officers, with the rank of commander, was part of an agreement between Gen. Floros and Egyptian armed forces chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Osama Roshdy Askar.

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