Ambassador Pyatt’s Statement to the Press
Special Warfare Command Live Demonstration
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Megara, Greece
Kalimera sas! Let me start by saying how deeply impressed I am by what we’ve all seen this morning, and offering my really warm congratulations to Minister Stefanis, General Floros and the entire Hellenic Armed Forces on the launch of this new special forces’ capability.
I’m also very proud of the partnership that we have forged between the United States Special Operations Command Europe, SOCEUR, and the Hellenic Special Forces. I am proud to say, I was talking to one of our representatives from SOCEUR in Stuttgart who noted that about 80% of the capabilities that we saw demonstrated today are capabilities that we have exercised together with our Hellenic Armed Forces counterparts.
What was so impressive to me today was to see the synchronization of operations, some of which are highly complicated, but I was also very proud to see some of the systems that the United States has provided, including the new Mark V Special Forces boats deployed today. This is a capability that makes Greece more secure, but it also makes NATO more capable.
As I’ve often said, that’s what our alliance is really about. It’s about capabilities, it’s about the trust in the partnership. And we have a fantastic partner in General Floros and everybody under his command.
So, thank you all for being here today and syncharitiria to the Hellenic Special Forces. We have a lot of work to do together. Efcharisto poli!
