Florida Guard, Greece formalize partnership

ATHENS, Greece - The Florida National Guard and Hellenic Armed Forces formally established their State Partnership Program relationship at a signing ceremony in Athens on Oct. 7, beginning a long-term partnership focused on military readiness, interoperability and regional security.

Maj. Gen. John D. Haas, adjutant general of Florida, and Gen. Dimitrios Choupis, chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, signed the partnership agreement before military and civilian leaders representing the United States and Greece.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias and U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle attended the signing. Rubio highlighted the partnership as another component of the longstanding relationship between the two nations and an opportunity for Florida and Greece to exchange expertise.

"I think there's a lot of interoperability here - a lot we can learn from one another," Rubio said. "And again, these are the sort of links, and these are the sort of relationships, and these are the sort of partnerships that continue to build the building blocks of a modernized alliance."

Rubio pointed to the Florida National Guard's experience responding to hurricanes and Greece's expertise responding to earthquakes and wildfires as areas where the partners can learn from one another.

The partnership provides the Florida National Guard and Hellenic Armed Forces a framework for recurring military-to-military engagements designed to strengthen readiness and deepen cooperation between the two organizations.

"But what excites us most is not what Florida offers; it's what we will build together," Haas said.

Haas described the partnership as a natural extension of longstanding connections between Florida and Greece, citing shared history, culture and generations of Greek American ties in Florida. He said the agreement marks the beginning of a relationship intended to extend well beyond the signing.

"Today, we sign an agreement, but what we truly begin is a new relationship," Haas said. "This is a partnership built not just for today, but for decades to come."