Rubio says US, Greece to jointly combat security threats

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that “strong and model NATO ally” Greece and the United States are launching new counterterrorism information sharing between their law enforcement agencies.

During an official visit to Athens, Rubio said Greece was particularly exposed to the threats posed by mass migration and human trafficking.

“As part of our efforts to combat these common threats to our nations, we’re proud to announce a new memorandum of understanding establishing a joint security program to strengthen the counterterrorism information sharing between our respective law enforcement agencies,” he told reporters alongside Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.

Greece has been an important NATO ally to the United States, offering key military facilities to safeguard security in the Eastern Mediterranean, and it leads an EU maritime mission to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Rubio and Gerapetritis presided over the sixth round of a U.S.-Greece strategic dialogue that began in 2018 in which the sides agreed “to deepen defense ties, bolster trade and investment, and promote cultural ties,” according to a joint statement.

Greece, it said, would receive $4 billion to support a long-term defense plan to increase interoperability between the two militaries and to “explore future opportunities for defense industrial base cooperation.”

Gerapetritis said that Greece was willing to cooperate with the United States and offer maritime aid in the Strait of Hormuz if there is a viable peace process there.

Rubio stood by U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle after U.S. senators expressed concerns over allegations that she had threatened that the U.S. could use its influence to undermine the Greek government.

Asked if her conduct was in compliance with State Department ethics, Rubio said: “Suffice it to say, our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.”

美国国务卿马可·卢比奥周三表示，“强大的模范北约盟友”希腊和美国正在两国执法机构之间启动新的反恐信息共享。

鲁比奥在对雅典进行正式访问期间表示，希腊尤其容易受到大规模移民和人口贩运带来的威胁。

“作为我们应对这些共同威胁的努力的一部分，我们很荣幸地宣布签署一份新的谅解备忘录，建立联合安全计划，以加强我们各自执法机构之间的反恐信息共享，”他与希腊外交部长乔治·格拉佩特里蒂斯一起告诉记者。

希腊一直是美国重要的北约盟友，为维护东地中海安全提供了关键的军事设施，并领导着欧盟海上特派团，以保护红海的商业航运。

根据一份联合声明，鲁比奥和杰拉佩特里蒂斯主持了始于2018年的美希战略对话第六轮会议，双方同意“深化防务关系，加强贸易和投资，促进文化联系”。

声明称，希腊将获得 40 亿美元，用于支持一项长期国防计划，以提高两国军队之间的互操作性，并“探索未来在国防工业基地合作方面的机会”。

杰拉佩特里蒂斯表示，如果霍尔木兹海峡存在可行的和平进程，希腊愿意与美国合作，并提供海上援助。

在美国参议员对美国驻希腊大使金伯利·吉尔福伊尔威胁美国可能利用其影响力破坏希腊政府的指控表示担忧之后，卢比奥力挺吉尔福伊尔大使。

当被问及她的行为是否符合国务院的道德规范时，鲁比奥说：“总而言之，我们驻美大使馆的工作非常出色。我们的大使是一位优秀的驻美大使。”