Greece will significantly reduce its participation in Nato and EU military missions due to the economic crisis in the country, National Defence Minister Panos Beglitis announced on the sidelines of an informal EU defence ministers' Council held here on Friday.

He said that the ministry was preparing to cut down Greece's participation in the Nato and EU missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Somalia, noting that local political forces in Afghanistan and Kosovo were anyway entering the phase where they would gradually take over control.

Beglitis made it clear, however, that Greece would not withdraw entirely and will continue to maintain a small presence as long as the international missions continued to exist.

The ministers' council, held to prepare for the regular council in November in Brussels, mainly carried out a review of developments in the operations in Libya. Among the central issues was the need to reduce armaments spending due to the economic crisis sweeping across Europe.

They also noted that the EU27 had achieved very few of their goals in terms of defence and security, as shown by serious problems that arose during the operations in Libya, and doubts were expressed about whether the EU would be able to adequately perform its international role.

During the discussion on Libya, Beglitis said that Greece was prepared to play a decisive role in the distribution of humanitarian aid and to provide facilities at the Souda naval base and airforce bases around the country.

The ministers did not discuss the tension created in the southeastern Mediterranean by Turkey's stance toward exploratory drilling for natural gas in Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone. The issue is expected to be discussed at the Nato ministers' meeting in Brussels in early October.