Greece’s Defense Minister Nikos Dendias traveled to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday for a series of high-level meetings with the Gulf nation’s senior leadership, in a visit that underscored Athens’ commitment to deepening security ties with Abu Dhabi at a time of heightened instability across the broader Middle East.

Dendias was received upon arrival at the Al Ain military airbase in Abu Dhabi by Mohamed Bin Mubarak Bin Fadhel Al Mazrouei, the UAE’s Minister of State for Defense Affairs. The two officials then held talks at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Air College, where they exchanged views on the latest developments and the security situation across the region, according to the Greek Ministry of National Defense.

The visit took on added weight with a meeting between Dendias and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The encounter was also attended by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and President of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council — as well as Minister of State for Defense Affairs Al Mazrouei, signaling the significance Emirati officials attached to the visit.

Rounding out a packed diplomatic schedule, Dendias also sat down in Abu Dhabi with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. During that meeting, the Greek minister reaffirmed Greece’s “unwavering solidarity” with the Emirates.

The visit comes at a moment of acute regional turbulence, with the wider Middle East gripped by the escalating conflict between the US, Israel and Iran and mounting security concerns affecting states across the Gulf and beyond.