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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he will continue working with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to build a productive and functional relationship between Greece and Türkiye, speaking to reporters following the 36th NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government.
Mitsotakis praised the host country's organization of the gathering, saying Türkiye had staged "a magnificent NATO Summit" and expressing his appreciation for Turkish hospitality.
The remarks signal continued diplomatic momentum between Athens and Ankara at a time when the two NATO allies have been navigating a historically complex relationship marked by disputes over airspace, maritime boundaries, and migration.
The Greek premier used the post-summit press opportunity to underscore his conviction that European NATO members must take on a significantly larger share of Alliance responsibilities to preserve both its unity and its Euro-Atlantic character.
"This means spending more resources to achieve a balance between the United States and other NATO members," he said.
Mitsotakis acknowledged that U.S. President Donald Trump has advocated this position for eight years, and said he agrees with that assessment.
Greece, he noted, is on track to exceed a defense spending target of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2026, and has maintained expenditures above 2 percent of GDP even during its severe economic crisis years, a period in which many European allies fell well short of the Alliance's benchmark threshold.
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Asked about the prospect of Türkiye acquiring F-35 fighter jets from the United States, Mitsotakis declined to comment on Ankara's potential procurement path and instead confined his answer to Greece's own program. Greek pilots are scheduled to begin training on F-35 aircraft designated for Greece in 2027, he said.
"It is not my job to interpret the choices of other countries," Mitsotakis said, adding that Greece is not in a position to tell the United States to whom it should or should not sell defense systems.
Türkiye was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after it purchased the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, a decision that prompted U.S. sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
On the question of U.S.-Iran relations, Mitsotakis said he wants to remain optimistic and expressed his belief that the situation would not revert to the tensions seen in recent months.
He stressed that freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz is a priority not only for Greece, one of the world's leading shipping nations, but for European countries and the United States as well.
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