Prime Minister Mitsotakis & UN Chief Stress Importance of Maritime Security; Pledges Greece to be “Guardian of Free Navigation”
No. 39
NEW YORK - Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the importance of maritime security in an address to the United Nations Security Council, which Greece assumed the presidency of in May. AHI applauds Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ initiative to focus on maritime security, which would be supported by H.R.2510: The American-Hellenic-Israeli Eastern Mediterranean Counterterrorism and Maritime Security Partnership Act of 2025. This bill, introduced by Vice Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), and co-led by Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr. (R-NJ), Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), would authorize U.S. support to increase maritime security cooperation with Greece, including the construction of a new maritime security training facility in Souda Bay, Crete.
Maritime security was listed as one of Greece’s “Basic Pillars” of its 2025-2026 United Nations Security Council candidacy, which it pledged to address if elected as a member. To this end, Greece highlighted how it “attaches great importance to maritime security” which has been a longtime area of focus for the country. Such efforts have been critical to maintaining a strong U.S. presence in the region.
In addition to Prime Minister Mitsotakis, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also urged for increased efforts to bolster maritime security, stating “Without maritime security, there can be no global security. But maritime spaces are increasingly under strain from both traditional threats and emerging dangers: from challenges around contested boundaries, to the depletion of natural resources at sea, to escalating geopolitical tensions fanning the flames of competition, conflict and crime.” Guterres also specifically addressed how “the Mediterranean Sea remain treacherously active routes for migrant smuggling and the trafficking of weapons and human beings.” Guterres called upon the security council to “take action to support and secure maritime spaces, and the communities and people counting on them.”
To read more about how The American-Hellenic-Israeli Eastern Mediterranean Counterterrorism and Maritime Security Partnership Act of 2025 will help improve maritime security, view the bill’s fact sheet here.
The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) is a non-profit policy center and think tank founded in 1974 that promotes the interests of the United States in foreign affairs involving Greece, the Republic of Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Southern Europe.
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