Foreign Policy Live One-on-One with Greece’s PM
Feb 5, 2026
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s prime minister since 2019 known for pushing stronger European defense and close US ties. He discusses NATO and the changing European defense strategy. He talks about financing collective defense, managing tensions with Turkey, migration policy, and Greece’s role as an energy hub. He outlines Europe’s push for strategic autonomy while maintaining trans-Atlantic links.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Europe Must Spend More Without Abandoning NATO
- Kyriakos Mitsotakis argues Europe must boost defense spending to achieve strategic autonomy while retaining strong U.S. ties.
- He sees NATO and a stronger European defense as complementary, not mutually exclusive.
Fund Defense By Growing The Economy
- Strengthen economic competitiveness to create fiscal space for defense spending and private investment.
- Change European competition rules and nurture a defense ecosystem including startups and mergers.
Use Joint EU Borrowing For Shared Defense
- Create EU-level borrowing instruments for shared defense projects like missile defense.
- Use collective European funds to finance common security goods rather than leaving costs to individual states.