Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos

Greek politician (born 1965)

Νικόλαος Παναγιωτόπουλος

Panagiotopoulos in 2021

Minister for National DefenceIn office
9 July 2019 – 26 May 2023Prime MinisterKyriakos MitsotakisPreceded byEvangelos ApostolakisSucceeded byAlkiviadis Stefanis Personal detailsBorn (1965-08-18) 18 August 1965 (age 58)Political partyNew Democracy

Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos (Greek: Νικόλαος Παναγιωτόπουλος; born 18 August 1965 in Kavala)^[1]^[2] is a Greek politician of the New Democracy party who served as Minister for National Defence in the cabinet of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis from 2019 to 2023.^[3]^[4]

Political career

During Panagiotopoulos' time in office, the Greek parliament approved the purchase of six new and 12 used Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft from France for 2.5 billion euros ($3.04 billion) in January 2021.^[5] Later that year, he led efforts on a defence pact between Greece and France, a NATO ally, whereby they would come to each other's aid in the event of an external threat. The pact included an order for three French frigates worth 3 billion euros.^[6]

In the June 2023 Greek legislative election, he was elected to the Hellenic Parliament from Kavala.

References

^ "CV". Hellenic Parliament. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
^ "Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos". Ministry of National Defence. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
^ "New Greek PM sworn in and a new Cabinet is announced". Neos Kosmos. 9 July 2019. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
^ "The Composition of the New Greek Government". The National Herald. 9 July 2019. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
^ Greek parliament approves purchase of Rafale fighters from France Reuters, January 14, 2021.
^ John Irish (28 September 2021), Macron tells Europe to 'stop being naive' after France signs defence deal with Greece Reuters.