US Senate Committee approves bill to bolster US defence partnership with Greece

US Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) applauded the Committee passage of their new legislation to bolster the United States’ defence partnership with Greece.

Entitled the US-Greece Defence and Interparliamentary Partnership Act of 2021, the bipartisan legislation boosts support for Greek military modernisation by authorising new transfers of American military equipment and fostering increased multilateral engagement among Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and the United States.

Chairman Menendez said he was “very proud to see the Senate Foreign Relations Committee come together in support of this commonsense legislation that not only bolsters Greece’s efforts to modernise its armed forces, but also strengthens our bilateral defense relationship and enduring ties with our instrumental Hellenic partners.”

Chairman Menendez said he looks “forward to continue working with my colleagues to secure Senate passage of the U.S.-Greece Defense and Interparliamentary Partnership Act so we can continue promoting security cooperation and lasting stability in the Eastern Mediterranean for years to come.”

On his part, Rubio said “as this important bipartisan legislation heads to the Senate floor for full consideration, we must remain committed to ensuring our nation enhances its defence cooperation with Greece.”

The Parliamentary Engagement within the 3+1 Framework authorizes the establishment of an interparliamentary group among Cyprus, Greece, Israel and the United States to serve as the legislative component of the 3+1 process launched among the governments in March 2019.

In a joint appeal to member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Julie Rayman, Senior Director of Policy and Political Affairs of the American Jewish Committee and Andy Zemenides, Executive Director, of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, urge them to support the U.S.-Greece Defence and Interparliamentary Partnership Act, legislation that has bi-partisan support.

This legislation would deepen, it notes, “the U.S.-Greece alliance and make Greece an even more dependable partner by advancing Greece’s military modernization, authorising new transfers of American military equipment to Greece, and investing in the 3+1 partnership between Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and the United States that is redefining the Eastern Mediterranean”.