![\"France](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Catherine-Vautrin-1-960x600.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin leaves the Elysee Palace after a Cabinet meeting in Paris, France, on 28 January 2026. [Mohammed Badra\/EPA]<\/p>\n
France\u2019s minister of the armed forces said access by non-EU countries to loans under the European Union\u2019s SAFE defense financing regulation requires unanimous approval by all member-states, as she reaffirmed France\u2019s deepening strategic defense partnership with Greece during a visit to Athens.<\/p>\n
Catherine Vautrin, who is attending a ceremony aboard the FDI-class frigate Kimon at the Salamis naval base, confirmed in an interview with Kathimerini that discussions are underway to renew the Franco-Greek Strategic Partnership Agreement signed in 2021 and due to expire at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe delivery of the FDI Kimon reflects the solidity of the Franco-Greek strategic partnership signed by the two countries in 2021, a partnership of which we are particularly proud,\u201d Vautrin said. The frigate is the first of four FDI-class vessels to be delivered to the Hellenic Navy.<\/p>\n
She said the program embodies growing interoperability between the two countries\u2019 armed forces and a shared determination to strengthen Europe\u2019s defense industrial base. Greek companies contribute 25% of the production of certain frigate components, she said, adding that the cooperation reduces costs, increases availability and supports long-term operational readiness.<\/p>\n
She described the 2021 agreement as a success both operationally and industrially, pointing to a sharp increase in joint military activities. She cited about 140 joint activities annually, compared with roughly 20 in 2019, as well as cooperation in missions such as Operation Aspides in the Red Sea. France and Greece are also set to participate together in major exercises including ORION and ARGO.<\/p>\n
On EU defense financing, Vautrin said France and Greece share a common vision of European strategic autonomy. \u201cWe therefore considered it necessary for the resources of the SAFE program to be invested as a priority in European industry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She added that 65% of the total value of financed equipment must originate in European countries. \u201cIn order for cooperation with third countries to take place, unanimous approval by the member-states is required,\u201d Vautrin said. Beyond naval and air cooperation, Vautrin highlighted efforts to deepen collaboration between land forces through joint training and exercises, calling it the domain \u201cof fundamental importance\u201d in addressing shared threats.<\/p>\n
Drones, she stressed, \u201cconstitute one of the new realities on the battlefield.\u201d She urged European NATO members to take on greater responsibility for their own security. \u201cThe question is not whether they can, but that they must do so.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin leaves the Elysee Palace after a Cabinet meeting in Paris, France, on 28…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[473,2000,299,12072,36,285],"class_list":{"0":"post-728178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-defense","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-foreign-affairs","12":"tag-france","13":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115977463239981443","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}