Rubio in Athens on Monday: to lead the U.S.–Greece strategic dialogue on defence and energy

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Greece next week, as Reuters reports based on the State Department’s official statement, published on Thursday. The visit is part of a three-leg tour that will take the chief of American diplomacy to Iceland, Greece and Portugal on October 5–8, to discuss economic and security cooperation, according to the announcement.

In Athens, Rubio will lead the American delegation at the sixth session of the U.S.–Greece Strategic Dialogue, the high-level diplomatic forum aimed at deepening cooperation in defence, energy, regional security and other issues, Reuters reports.

The tour begins in Reykjavik, where Rubio will talk with Icelandic officials about “economic and security cooperation”, while after Athens he will travel to Lisbon for talks with Portuguese officials on “advancing cooperation in defence, economy and technology”, according to the State Department statement.

The U.S.–Greece Strategic Dialogue is the main forum through which the two countries coordinate their defence, energy and regional security agenda — topics that have gained particular weight in recent months, amid tensions in the eastern Mediterranean and the energy crisis affecting all of Europe.

Rubio’s visit comes just a few days after Greece took over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, placing Athens at the centre of international diplomatic attention at the start of October.