Μake us preferred on Google The US embassy in Athens on Thursday evening officially announced Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Athens on Oct. 6-7 as part of a three-country European tour, formally confirming his visit to Greece next week.
Rubio will travel to Reykjavík, Athens and Lisbon from Oct. 5-8, according to the announcement. In Greece, he will lead the US delegation for the sixth US-Greece Strategic Dialogue, with talks expected to focus on defense cooperation as well as regional and energy security.
The visit comes as Greece and the US continue to deepen a strategic partnership centered on defense, energy and security cooperation. The sixth Strategic Dialogue follows the establishment of the framework in 2018 and comes at a time of heightened geopolitical activity in the eastern Mediterranean, including renewed attention to energy infrastructure, maritime security and Greece’s role as an energy gateway to southeastern Europe.
After Greece, Rubio will travel to Lisbon, Portugal, where he is scheduled to meet Portuguese officials to discuss defense, economic and technology cooperation.
The Athens leg will be Rubio’s first visit to Greece as secretary of state and will provide an opportunity for the two governments to review the breadth of their strategic relationship amid a rapidly changing regional security environment.
