The government of Greece has announced that it is extending a bilateral military base deal signed with the United States for another five years.

The agreement, which is scheduled to be ratified by the Greek parliament this week, will extend the access of the US military to three military bases on the Greek mainland and maintain its naval presence on the island of Crete, strategically located in the Mediterranean Sea.

The extension saw support from the country’s center-right administration, which argued that bolstering coordination with NATO would help provide stability to a region rattled by the Russo-Ukrainian war.

US military bases in Greece, especially in Souda, Crete, are the key fixtures in American presence in the region. The United States Naval Support Activity (NSA) Souda Bay provides crucial operational support for not only US forces but also its allies within the US Central Command, US Africa Command, and US European Command.