Greece

Nuclear-weapon endorser

Has not yet joined the TPNW

SIGNED

RATIFIED

IN FORCE

Status

Greece has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

National position

Greece has consistently voted against an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that welcomes the adoption of the TPNW and calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to it “at the earliest possible date”.

Greece supports the retention and potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf, as indicated by its endorsement of various alliance statements of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), of which it is a member.

In 2022, Greece claimed that the TPNW “does not make the necessary provisions for an incremental withdrawal of nuclear weapons, nor does it provide a verifiable mechanism that would oversee such an undertaking”.

Elaborating on Greece’s opposition to the TPNW, the then-minister of foreign affairs, Nikolaos Dendias, noted that Greece’s membership of NATO “gives rise to allied obligations, which our country takes into account in formulating its positions in this regard”. Dendias’ comments were in response to parliamentary questions submitted by the MeRA25 political party.

As part of the universal periodic review conducted by the UN Human Rights Council for Greece in 2022, the government declined to accept a recommendation to join the TPNW.

In 2024, Greece argued that the process for achieving nuclear disarmament “should be pursued within an agreed framework” and the TPNW “does not provide that framework, as it lacks essential mechanisms to address the hugely complex requirements to secure the elimination of nuclear weapons”.

In 2018, the then-prime minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, discusses the TPNW with disarmament campaigners. Photo: Greek MFA

Political developments

Around 100 cities in Greece, including the Athens, Thessaloniki, and Heraklion, have called on the Greek government to sign and ratify the TPNW.

In 2020, the former Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos was among the signatories to an open letter calling on current leaders to “show courage and boldness – and join the [TPNW]”.

TPNW negotiations

Greece did not participate in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and thus did not vote on its adoption. On the opening day of the negotiating conference, it joined the United States and several other states in protesting the treaty-making process.

In 2016, Greece voted against the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

In a document sent to NATO members ahead of the vote, the United States “strongly encourage[d]” members, including Greece, to vote against the resolution, “not to merely abstain”. In addition, it said that, if the treaty negotiations do commence, allies and partners should “refrain from joining them”.

Nuclear weapons formerly in Greece

During the cold war, Greece hosted US nuclear weapons on its territory as part of a NATO nuclear-sharing agreement. The United States removed the last of these weapons in 2001, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

Greece

Nuclear-weapon endorser

Has not yet joined the TPNW

Status

National position

Political developments

TPNW negotiations

Nuclear weapons formerly in Greece

Further information

Local Partner Organizations

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