US secretary of state Mike Pompeo welcomed the Greek Parliament’s ratification of the updated Greece-US cooperation agreement.

“I welcome the Greek Parliament’s ratification of our updated Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement, a strategic touchstone in our defense relationship. Greece is a key NATO ally, and we’ll continue to build on our strong partnership and promote stability in the region,” Pompeo posted on his personal Twitter account.

The Greek Parliament ratified the updated Greece-US cooperation agreement on Thursday night, with 175 votes for, 33 against, and 80 declaring “present” out of a total of 288 MPs voting.

Supporting the Mutual Defence Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) were the parties of ruling New Democracy and Movement for Change (KINAL). Main opposition Syriza voted “present”, while all other parties – Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Elliniki Lysi and MeRA25 – voted against it.

Absent deputies sent letters of vote intent to the presidium but their vote was not counted in the results.

Source: AMNA