Greek man appears in court accused of illegally photographing NATO operations

Authorities said the 59-year-old was 'acting on behalf of another individual' and had sent the recordings to that person using an encrypted messaging app.

A man has appeared in court facing espionage charges after allegedly photographing and videotaping military operations at the strategic port of Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece.The port serves as a key logistics hub for US and NATO operations, facilitating the movement of military equipment and personnel in support of Ukraine and NATO member states in eastern Europe.The man was arrested on 29 April in a joint operation by the police and Greece's National Intelligence Service.Authorities said he was "acting on behalf of another individual" and had sent the recordings to that person using an encrypted messaging app, but provided no further details.But the man's lawyer told the court that he did not send any classified information and that photographs of the NATO operations had already appeared widely in the media. According to state television, citing Greek law enforcement officials, the suspect is a 59-year-old Greek citizen born in Georgia and is under investigation for potential ties to Russian security services through a contact in Lithuania.Escorted by police officers, the suspect appeared before a magistrate in Alexandroupolis for a preliminary hearing as part of the ongoing judicial investigation.