U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Athens this week for the sixth round of the Greece-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, ...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Athens this week for the sixth round of the Greece-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, and the signals coming out of the meetings were unusually strong. Rubio called Greece an indispensable partner of the Western Alliance and a pillar of American presence in the broader region, framing the Eastern Mediterranean as a second line of defense behind the Middle East. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Rubio the bilateral relationship is at "the highest level of all time," describing Greece as a bridge between Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and the Arab world. Rubio also praised Greece's commitment to spend up to 5% of GDP on defense, one of the highest figures in NATO. On the military side, the joint statement confirmed Greece is moving forward with $4 billion in U.S. military equipment purchases, including the F-35 program and F-16 upgrades. Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis pointed to Souda Bay and Alexandroupolis as the two hubs where American and Greek strategic interests physically converge, with U.S. forces deploying north and south from both locations. Energy was the other major topic. Gerapetritis called Greece the "backbone" for transporting American LNG to Central and Eastern Europe through the Vertical Corridor, and Mitsotakis described Greece as an "energy security provider" for its northern neighbors. Rubio expressed support for new gas pipelines and electricity interconnections, though he was more reserved in public comments. Notably, Turkey was not mentioned once during any of Rubio's public appearances in Athens, either at the Prime Minister's office or the Foreign Ministry. Observers described it as a deliberate choice by Athens to keep the Greece-U.S. relationship from being defined by third-party dynamics. When a reporter asked Rubio about obstacles to the Greece-Cyprus undersea cable, a project Turkey has actively obstructed, he said sensitive issues are better handled at the negotiating table than in press conferences. #Greece #USGreece #EasternMediterranean