The Alternate Minister of National Defence Dimitrios Vitsas accompanied by the Commander of the C Army Corps Lieutenant General Alkiviadis Stefanis who represented the Chief of the HNDGS attended the commemoration in Souli.
In his address the Alternate Minister stressed the following:
“On every mountain, on every sea, there is blood, combats, history for the freedom of the country. But, here, in Souli, we have to mention a story that kept Greeks standing, which gave them an expectation, which was the forerunner of the Great Revolution. Here, in Souli, the passion for freedom spurted not only from the mountains, but from the souls and hearts of men and women as well. This is what we honour today. We honour the fierce will and conviction that freedom is a prerequisite for a nation, for people, to create, so freedom is creative; it is indispensable for them in order to live, so freedom is a matter of life; and, in parallel, in order to be able to express their solidarity in the present and in the future. It is clear that we are going through difficult times, not as difficult as the ones that people of Souli lived, yet it is clear that this desire for freedom and this desire for cooperation and solidarity should guide us. Recently, we made a very important step. This step cannot and should not remain unfinished, financially and socially. This step cannot make us slacken our efforts, it should make us work harder, in a more organised manner, trusting our power, oriented to Europe in order to be able to stand on our feet and, in parallel, to show that the Greek values are global values too. In addition to this, I would like to say – proving that the Greek values are global values – I would like once more to praise the efforts of the Greek people, the Armed Forces, the Police and the Coast Guard to deal with matters related to the refugees’ issue from their humanitarian aspect, from their human aspect. I wish to praise also the effort of the people of Epirus, one of the poorest areas in Europe, to host and help these people”.
