A meeting with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto was held today, Tuesday 8 September 2026, by the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias at Italy’s Ministry of Defence, in Rome.
In the presence of the two ministers, following their meeting, the Implementing Arrangement between the Hellenic Republic and the Italian Republic was signed, which activates the program for the acquisition of two Italian FREMM-type frigates (Bergamini class).
Specifically, the Implementing Arrangement was signed by the General Director of Defence Armaments and Investments (GDAEE) of the Ministry of National Defence, Major General Ioannis Bouras, and the Italian Armaments Director, Vice Admiral Giacinto Ottaviani.
Also present at the signing of the Implementing Arrangement, in implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoU) and the Letter of Intent for the acquisition of the Italian FREMM-type frigates, which were signed on 29 September 2025 in La Spezia, Italy, during the meeting between Mr. Dendias and Mr. Crosetto, were Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff General Dimitris Choupis, Chief of the Italian Defence Staff General Luciano Portolano, Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff Vice Admiral Dimitrios – Eleftherios Kataras HN, Chief of the Italian Navy General Staff Admiral Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto and the Ambassador of Greece to Italy Eleni Sourani.
Mr. Dendias, in joint statements with the Italian Minister of Defence, noted:
«Signore e Signori,
È per me un particolare onore essere oggi a Roma, a quasi un anno da La Spezia, per la firma dell’Accordo Attuativo che conferisce un contenuto al programma di acquisizione delle fregate FREMM.
(Ladies and gentlemen, it is a particular honor for me to be in Rome today, almost one year after La Spezia, for the signing of the Implementing Arrangement that gives substance to the program for the acquisition of the FREMM frigates.)
On 29 September 2025 in La Spezia, with the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation and the Letter of Intent, we recorded the common will of Greece and Italy for cooperation of strategic and operational significance. And today we are building on these foundations.
The first FREMM frigate, "Carlo Bergamini", is expected to be transferred to Greece in the first half of ’28 and "Fasan" in the first half of ’29. But what is sought by Greece and Italy is not only the transfer of two frigates.
It is close cooperation, it is the upgrading of deterrent power. It is Italian cooperation in adapting the Hellenic Navy to the requirements of the new era.
The FREMMs are units of high specifications and with the changes we will bring about, and are already discussing with the company that built them - Fincantieri - we will make them extremely powerful.
Together with the FDI, together with the MEKO, they will be the core of strength of the Greek Fleet in the new era.
But more generally, as you know, I am here to discuss the broader cooperation with Italy as well.
First of all, the possibility of acquiring two more FREMM units, but also the common view of matters. Greece and Italy are maritime nations. They share the same vital maritime space in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. Together we have approximately 90% of the European commercial fleet. Therefore, our common geography also creates a common responsibility for the security of sea lanes, for freedom of navigation, for the protection of energy and commercial flows and the stability of our wider region.
Today’s agreement also serves a concept that we hold and concerns the involvement of the Greek shipyards and the Greek defence industry, the Greek defence ecosystem, in the adaptation of the new systems our Homeland is acquiring.
This dimension is an integral element of the "Agenda 2030", so that know-how remains in the country and creates Greek national productive capital.
Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say in conclusion that today’s agreement is part of a consistent course of strategic convergence between Greece and Italy.
It is a consistent course. In 2020 we delimited our maritime zones, consolidating our relationship on the basis of International Law and the International Law of the Sea, UNCLOS. I was very proud to sign that agreement then as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
And in 2025, together with the dear minister, Guido Crosetto, in La Spezia, we shaped the framework of our new strategic cooperation at the level of Defence. Today here, in Rome, we are giving substance to that agreement we made in La Spezia.
Signor Ministro, caro Guido, La ringrazio per la fiducia, la serietà e la coerenza che hanno contraddistinto questo percorso. Da La Spezia a Roma, abbiamo onorato la parola data. Oggi quella parola diventa un impegno concreto. Grazie.
(Mr. Minister, dear Guido, Thank you for the trust, seriousness and consistency that characterized this journey. From La Spezia to Rome, we honored the word we gave. Today that word becomes a concrete commitment. Thank you)».