Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to arrive in Ankara at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7, for the 36th NATO Summit.

The summit in the Turkish capital opens with a dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for NATO leaders, with the main agenda following Wednesday morning. Discussions will center on progress toward the central commitment made by the 32 leaders of the Alliance to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP.

Within that framework, Mitsotakis is expected to highlight Greece’s strengthened role on the Eastern Mediterranean’s geopolitical chessboard and position the country as a strong, reliable ally, noting, as government officials point out, that Athens kept up its commitments to the Alliance even during the years of the financial crisis.

Greece is already among five countries that have surpassed the 3.5 percent defense spending threshold for 2026, with a 25 billion euro, twelve year program to modernize the country’s armed forces serving as a key reference point.

At the same time, Athens continues to press the case for strengthening Europe’s own defense capabilities, an issue Mitsotakis regularly raises with his 25 counterparts in European Council meetings, arguing that Brussels needs to step up support for European defense through concrete funding mechanisms.

The Question of the F-35 Jets

Athens is also watching closely for the Trump-Erdogan meeting and the possibility that the American president might offer Turkey a “gift” by reinstating it in the F-35 program.

That question remains open, though Athens notes restrictions are still in place that can only be lifted by a new decision from Congress. Greek officials also stress two additional points: that Athens is already part of the F-35 program, and the deep and expanding scope of Greek-American relations.

As of yet, there has been no scheduled meeting between Mitsotakis and Erdogan in the overall agenda of the summit.