Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias made a direct pitch to Brussels on Tuesday, calling on European partners to treat G...

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias made a direct pitch to Brussels on Tuesday, calling on European partners to treat Greece as the backbone of a military corridor stretching from Alexandroupoli northward through Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova. Speaking at the "Connecting Europe Days" event alongside European Commission President von der Leyen and Commissioners Tzitzikostas and Kubilius, Dendias described Alexandroupoli as the closest European port to the Ukrainian front. He argued the corridor should serve as the model for how Europe moves military forces while simultaneously defending the infrastructure they travel through. Dendias went further on European defense structure, questioning the EU Military Committee's current command setup directly. "Has there ever been in the history of humanity a military structure headed by a committee?" he asked. He called for the committee to be transformed into something more capable and with greater authority, while clarifying he wants improvement of existing structures, not new ones. On missile defense, Dendias used a hypothetical Houthi attack scenario to argue that small states like Cyprus cannot develop adequate defensive capabilities alone. He called for Europe-wide ballistic missile coverage, referencing Greece's "Aspida tou Achilli" (Shield of Achilles) framework as a model that should be extended across land, sea, air, cyberspace, and space domains. He also warned that artificial intelligence could give terrorist groups and non-state actors capabilities currently held only by major militaries, strengthening the case for a coordinated European response to emerging threats. On the question of how ready Europe currently is to protect its infrastructure, Dendias was blunt. He said Europe is "still very far" from being ready and tied the gap directly to financial planning. Citing the 100 billion euros referenced by Commissioner Tzitzikostas, he argued the EU can absorb that cost when security is at stake, but insisted the price of protecting what gets built must be factored in alongside construction costs. No implementation agreement, secured funding, or timeline was announced. Dendias laid out a geographic pri...