The Alternate Minister of National Defence Dimitris Vitsas, accompanied by the Chief of HAFGS Lieutenant General Christos Christodoulou, represented the government at the commemoration of Air Force officers who died on duty in Thermo, Aitoloakarnania prefecture.

In his address during the inauguration ceremony of the monument, the Alternate Minister of National Defence stressed the following:

“It is a particular honour for me to be here, in my birthplace and represent the Greek government and the Ministry of National Defence at the commemoration ceremony of the fallen air force officers who were born in this land.

This area, this land has a special beauty. It is the wild beauty of the mountain, of the dells and the calmness of the lake. Whoever has visited it, even once, can never forget it. So, how could people who were born here forget this land? It is a hard land, difficult and poor land, many times forgotten by the state itself. But this land has never forgotten to participate in the creation of the Greek history. From ancient times until nowadays, its people, strengthened by difficulties, have been participating in historic moments passionately and their actions have been recorded as a historical memory.

This is why, it is our duty to honour them and follow the lessons they teach us; to learn that freedom is the most important value; to learn that defending our country is a supreme duty; to learn that civil conflicts are actions that should be avoided and not an example for new disagreements. This commemoration is very important when a historical change takes place in our country.

It is a historical change like this that we are going through today. And it is particularly important for us to be united in order to utilize our common creative force and pursue the upgrade of our country, the termination of the surveillance and social progress. At this difficult moment, in such dire times, with an unstable Europe, we want to make Greece a place of stability and an area of peace for Mediterranean Sea and Europe.  

Allow me to use, in particular, the example of Nikos Sialmas and Kostas Kontogiorgos, to stress a few things:

We are peaceful people; we have never claimed anything more than our freedom. We are also sore and determined people; people who know how to defend their sovereignty rights on land, at sea and in the air. Our history has taught us that we should work for peace and, at the same time, be always ready. And this is what we do with a high morale and strong Armed Forces, trained with modern equipment. And history must teach friends and foes that whoever underestimated us, paid for it.

The second thing I would like to stress is that, at the same time when we are all preoccupied with our peaceful works or even our peaceful and democratic conflicts, there are people, men and women, our children, whose duty is to defend our country’s territorial integrity. And they perform this duty with devotion and sometimes with their own lives. Let us not forget this; let’s not forget them.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

By attending this commemoration, we give our promise and, at the same time, we turn the memory into a moral commitment; for our country, for freedom, for peace and human dignity”.