Rubio announces U.S.-Greece counterterrorism program

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States and Greece are establishing a joint security program to strengthen counterterrorism information sharing between their law-enforcement agencies, during a visit to Athens on Wednesday. The memorandum of understanding was announced at a news conference alongside Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis; details about implementation were not provided. Rubio described Greece as a close security partner and said the two governments were expanding cooperation against shared threats. He also backed a greater European contribution to defense, saying Greece was on track to meet the Trump administration’s benchmark of spending 5% of gross domestic product on defense. That assessment was made by Rubio at the news conference. The security announcement came during a three-country tour of NATO allies that began in Iceland and was due to conclude in Portugal. In Athens, Rubio and Gerapetritis also discussed energy and trade ties.