Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading to Athens for the Sixth U.S.-Greece Strategic Dialogue, and at least one membe...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading to Athens for the Sixth U.S.-Greece Strategic Dialogue, and at least one member of Congress is pushing hard for the meeting to deliver real results on defense. Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from New York's 11th district, released a statement ahead of the visit calling on Rubio to use the talks to deepen military cooperation between the two countries. She specifically pointed to Greece's pending F-35 acquisition and continued U.S. military access at Souda Bay and Alexandroupolis as priorities that should be advanced. Malliotakis also called for expanding American liquefied natural gas exports through Greece as a way to help Europe cut its dependence on Russian energy. She framed the move as both a security and economic opportunity for both sides. The congresswoman urged the administration to build on the 3+1 framework, the security partnership between the United States, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel, which Rubio himself championed during his time in the Senate. She said the U.S. must make clear to Turkey that it needs to respect Greek sovereignty and stop what she described as threats and provocations. Malliotakis, who is of Greek descent, said the bonds between the two nations run deep and argued that a stronger partnership benefits both countries on security and economic terms. #Greece #USGreece #NATO