Greece is expected to issue a formal diplomatic protest to Ukraine if authorities confirm that a Ukrainian-built unmanned naval drone carrying dozens of pounds of explosives belongs to Ukrainian forces. The drone was found off the coast of Lefkada, raising serious concern in Athens over maritime security and the safety of Greek waters.
Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis formally briefed the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on the incident and said Greece would take initiatives to prevent the Mediterranean from becoming “a theater of military operations.”
Greek Foreign Ministry officials are currently working to determine the drone’s origin. “There will be a government response through the necessary démarches,” Gerapetritis said in Brussels, adopting an unusually firm tone.
The incident has alarmed Athens because the explosive-laden drone moved undetected and uncontrolled within Greek territorial waters. Defense experts, however, note that this type of unmanned naval craft is extremely difficult to spot. According to their assessment, such vessels can remain almost invisible to conventional naval radar systems.
Still, the presence of an explosive device in Greek waters has strengthened Athens’ view that diplomatic action is necessary to reduce the recurrence of similar incidents in the future.
Greek authorities are currently examining the drone’s onboard systems in cooperation with satellite system management companies. They aim to reconstruct the vessel’s route and determine its point of origin.
Officials are said to be considering two plausible scenarios, the first of which posits that a commercial ship may have dropped the drone in the area. The second scenario suggests the vessel set out from a base reportedly used by Ukrainians in Misrata in western Libya. In both cases, the craft appears to have lost remote control. This may explain why it went off course, eventually making its way to the coast of the island of Lefkada in Greece.
The incident has also revived concern in Athens over the safety of the Greek merchant fleet. This is not the first time Greece has felt the impact of Ukraine’s wartime operations. In mid-March, a Ukrainian drone hit a vessel belonging to a Greek company while it was off Novorossiysk and preparing to load Russian oil.
That attack prompted strong reactions from Shipping Minister Vasilis Kikilias and later from Gerapetritis. The Greek Foreign Minister also raised the matter with his counterparts at the EU Foreign Affairs Council, while Athens reportedly expressed strong displeasure to Kyiv.
As in the latest case, European partners showed understanding and support for Greece’s concerns, although they have not issued an official reaction thus far. It remains unclear whether Athens will also raise the Lefkada incident at the Council of Defense Ministers in Brussels, where Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias is participating.
Diplomatic sources in Athens emphasized that Greece has supported Ukraine in multiple ways over the past five years, including financially, diplomatically, and militarily. It was also underlined that Greece will continue to support Ukraine.
At the same time, Athens is making clear that incidents involving explosive-laden drones in Greek waters cannot go unanswered.
