The Alternate Minister of National Defence Dimitris Vitsas in an interview that he gave to journalist Ilias Proufas for the website KRANOS.GR stated the following:
1. QUESTION: Mr. Minister, thank you for accepting our invitation to give an interview for kranosgr. I would like us to begin our conversation with the provocativeness of Turkey. This provocativeness extends beyond the extremist rhetoric expressed by Mr. Erdogan, Mr. Kilincaroglu and other politicians of our neighbouring country, in the everyday activities on the Aegean Sea as well. Areas are reserved for exercises and constant breaches and violations of the Greek National Air Space are frequent actions. What’s your comment on that?
ANSWER 1: Turkish provocativeness is not a new phenomenon; however, every time it is related to the situation in our area. It is true that these challenges have changed qualitatively and have obtained a more aggressive character. The Ministry of National Defence and the Armed Forces of our country watch this activity closely and they send the necessary messages. In peacetime, the frameworks of activity are defined precisely, however lessons are given to the opposite side and these lessons are decisive. For example, Turkish pilots who violate Greece’s air space or breach the rules of air circulation within Athens FIR, know very well in which security environment they fly and what our reaction would have been if they had not done it in peace time. They know this very well because of the interceptions. The only thing that Turkish authorities do when they reserve areas is to create one more challenge which is not confirmed in action. In our opinion, no reservations of sea areas or air spaces above the Aegean Sea and beyond that, which do not respect the international regulations, can be made and we do not acknowledge them. Consequently, they do not produce the results which are sought for by those who announce them.
2. QUESTION: How possible would you consider an incident with Turkey is?
ANSWER 2: As Ministry of National Defence and Armed Forces, our mission is to be ready at any time to defend Greece’s national independence and territorial integrity. This mission is fulfilled at the highest level. Our readiness is the base of deterrence which is our strategy. Our deterrence force is a factor of stability in an area, like the one that surrounds us, where instability prevails. We do not wish for any negative developments; however we remain alert, we have processed scenarios about everything and we conduct exercises based on them.
3. QUESTION: What is the message that you, as Alternate Minister of National Defence, would send to our neighbours about the position that they have adopted as well as to the Greek people who are watching what is going on with concern?
ANSWER 3: We do not send messages. We do our job. We constantly send our neighbours messages for peace, mutual respect of sovereignty rights and cooperation. This message, however, becomes more convincing as long as our deterrence force exists. This matter does not only depend on the choices of the government of our neighbouring country; even if it has the best intentions, there still might be actions of some centres which would like to cause instability to the Greek-Turkish relations. Greek people are well aware that they are safe and they may be involved in their peaceful activities. Of course, this does not mean that they are not concerned, as we all are, about what happens around them. The fact that Greece, despite the long lasting financial crisis, is a place of stability and security is one more reason for us to feel safe without being overconfident. Our country is a pillar of security and this is generally admitted.
4. QUESTION: I have many topics about which I should and I would like to ask you questions. Before going to exclusively military topics I would like us to discuss an important issue which is called Refugees – Migrants issue. It is an issue that you undertook to deal with in the Armed Forces and you dealt with it well. The situation however again seems to get out of control, especially on the islands. What will you do about that? How do you think that this will evolve?
ANSWER 4: The manner in which our country managed the refugees issue was and still remains exemplary for the whole Europe. The base of our position is humatarianism. In 2015 and until March 2016, approximately one million people crossed the Greek territory and most of them through the sea, whereas hundreds of thousands were the ones that were rescued by Greek authorities. Today, about 60 thousands of them are trapped in Greece after the Balkan way to Europe was closed and they enjoy a decent accommodation. The problem mostly persists in remote islands where more than 14 thousands refugees and migrants who came from turkey after the European Union- Turkey agreement was validated in March 2016, are trapped. These people are under special conditions because the asylum requests that they submit must be examined and whoever of them are entitled to relocation to Europe, should be relocated to other European countries and the rest of them should be returned to Turkey. This part of the agreement is not observed at the necessary level mainly by our European partners. Nevertheless, the situation, even on the islands despite the big problems, is manageable with our initiatives and it will improve day by day. In this huge effort, which has the size of a national effort, Armed Forces, along with the Coast Guard and the Police, played and still play a decisive role. The necessary condition is the EU-Turkey agreement to continue to be observed which, in conjunction with NATO mission on the Aegean Sea, contributed decisively to the reduction of flows.
5. QUESTION: Are we at risk of being overwhelmed with migrants-refugees as Erdogan threatens us and, if yes, is there a plan for facing this tragic situation because it will be a tragic situation not only on the islands and in Evros, but in the rest of Greece as well?
ANSWER 5: I do not like this scaremongering that I have been hearing about this matter. Things are not unequivocal. Turkey’s leaders know very well how different expressing a threat is from implementing it. They would not solve any of their problems if they used refugees and migrants who are in its territory, as a “weapon”. On the contrary, they would increase the existent problems and they would probably create new ones. In any case, we have both plans and means to manage everything, but let’s stop scaremongering.
6. QUESTION: As a website that publishes mostly military topics, kranosgr prepared a number of questions based on the concerns which personnel of the Armed Forces express in their communication with us. I would like us to consider them one by one, starting from the salary scale which we hear that will be implemented and which provides low salaries. Mr. Minister, what should the personnel expect in relation to their salaries? Will there be any cuts or not?
ANSwER 6: We are clear and specific. Who serves in the Armed Forces today, regardless of their rank, will see no further cuts in their salaries. On the contrary, we are trying to enhance non-pecuniary benefits, such as, for example, providing houses, and to rationalize the system of assignments, so as to reduce the costs aiming mainly to improve the quality of life for officers until our country comes out of this vicious circle of recession.
7. QUESTION: Will there be any recovery of salaries for the personnel in accordance with the decisions of the Council of State and, if yes, when should we expect that?
ANSWER 7: We respect the decisions of the Council of State and we prepare their implementation.
8. QUESTION: Frontier zone service allowance. Will there be any provision for the payment of the allowance, like there is for the rest of the public officials who serve in these areas?
ANSWER 8: The payment of the frontier zone allowance is a commitment which is implemented. The personnel of the Armed Forces know already that the allowance for many more months than before is paid. Payment delays which occur sometimes are not a revocation of this commitment.
9. QUESTION: For the above to be implemented, the famous equivalent fiscal measures are required. Have they been decided, Mr. Minister?
ANSWER 9: The equivalent measures regarded the suspension of salary increases. This issue is no longer raised.
10. QUESTION: There is the problem of the assignments which you are well aware of. It is perhaps the “hot potato” in the military along with the issue of salary scale. How do you consider facing it as a man who is sincerely concerned with the care for the personnel and as their political leader?
ANSWER 10: We are promoting the rationalization of the system of personnel’s assignments to achieve a financial benefit which we will direct towards meeting personnel’s needs, as well as to achieve the consolidation of meritocracy. This rationalization includes more transparency and fewer assignments by increasing the assignment period in a particular post. I believe that we should reorganize the credits system, in particular in the Army. We take seriously into consideration the family needs of a cadre, such as serving at the same place with their husband/wife, children who study etc. The care for personnel’s needs is an important matter; we are considering a procedure of a total reconstruction of the system aiming to improve the services and the support provided to both active and retired personnel, as well as to their families.
11. QUESTION: A short while ago, your tenure in the Ministry of National Defence was renewed. Given that you were positively evaluated and you continue serving in the Ministry of National Defence, what are the initiatives that you will undertake for the logistic support of the personnel?
ANSWER 11: As political leadership of the Ministry of National Defence, we work cooperatively on matters of general policy making; and then, there are the fields of competences, Defence Minister Panos Kammenos’ competences and my competences as Alternate Defence minister; we always have an excellent cooperation with the Chiefs and the four General Staffs, I think that the positive evaluation that you refer to regards the work of the entire government. We should not forget that it is under particular financial conditions, unprecedented for a western country in peace time, we are trying to put our country in a course of growth, to bring it back to normal conditions, without any memoranda and any supervision. Specifically on the initiatives which we will undertake about the support to the personnel, I would like to tell you that, in relation to what I mentioned in my previous answers, we are considering specific measures and, very soon, we will be ready to announce them. The most important of them are: reconstruction, jointness, general education and military training, logistic support.
12. QUESTION: Will there be a reorganization of the Armed Forces after all and, if yes, will it be implemented based on clientelistic requirements or actual needs?
ANSWER 12: The reorganization of the Armed Forces is the big bet that we have to win. We do not start from the point zero. The General Staffs have done a lot of work already and the initiatives to be taken have been considered. Our objective is the further adaptation of the Armed Forces to modern situations, within the given framework, and the optimization of their deterrence capability with a full utilization of the available assets. We want the weapon systems that the Greek people have paid expensively, whereas some people took advantage of their purchase, to be as available for operations and as battle-worthy as possible. It is on this basis that the new needs for armaments will be defined at a ten-year horizon. Answering your question, whether this reorganization will be based on clientelistic requirements or actual needs, I am stressing that there is no such a dilemma for us. Apart from anything else, we cannot afford spending this valuable capital which is called Hellenic Armed Forces for petty political and short-sighted issues. This belongs to the past and we believe that this should be the position of the entire political system. The main points of the reorganization are: concentration of forces against a threat, jointness in operations and training, upgrade and full maintenance of the weapon systems, rapid reaction, full guard of borders and energy centres, strong participation and attendance in alliances and international centres of decision making.
13. QUESTION: What is the opinion of Dimitris Vitsas on the recruitment of conscripts at the age of 18, as well as about the recruitment of women?
ANSWER 13: There is no point in a general recruitment at the age of 18 because there would be no benefit out of such an action. At the best case, it would increase the number of conscripts by a few thousands for a year and then everything would be the same as before with various problems, old and new ones. The negative consequences would be numerous within the army and out of it. The Armed Forces would lose thousands of specialized youth and they would face various problems due to the younger age of conscripts. The problems out of the army would be very serious too; problems of access to tertiary education and, in general, for all the young people who want to try some things and gain qualification of post-secondary education for their career. There is a certain attitude today about the age of recruitment related to the entire social life which I believe that should not changed. It is the same about the recruitment of women. We do not need something like that. What we need is constant training. We have some of the best students who were among the first ones in the University admission exams. Military Academies and Military Schools require the highest marks for students to be admitted. Let’s focus on that.
14. QUESTION: Does the Ministry of National Defence intend to recruit Professional Soldiers to the Armed Forces within 2017?
ANSWER 14: Yes, although the matter of recruiting new professional soldiers is under review, as well as the whole institution of the professional soldiers. This is under consideration by the General Staffs.
15. QUESTION: Will military hospitals be open to everybody;
ANSWER 15: The military hospitals have a certain mission which is to meet the needs of the Armed Forces prepared to operate under special conditions. Of course, military hospitals are a live structure of healthcare services provided to the entire personnel of the Armed Forces, to civilian personnel, career officers, reservists and retired officers, in peace time. They belong to our country’s health system and they contribute to what we call social contribution of the Armed Forces. In light of the above, military hospitals are open to our society in the context of a distribution of patients which exists among all the public hospitals of our country and they operate 24 hours a day. We have already undertaken islands of the Aegean and we have outpatient clinics to serve citizens (e.g. Larisa). We deal with this issue in such a manner that we can serve more people without putting the balanced operation of hospitals at risk.
16. QUESTION: The annual evaluation of the personnel of the Armed Forces will begin soon. Given that last year there were no big changes, what should we expect this year and how deep will the “knife” cut the list of the Senior Officers?
ANSWER 16: The evaluation is an internal procedure of the Armed Forces based on specific criteria which are defined by the political institutions and the General Staffs. There are neither “knives” nor “exclusions” of any kind.
17. QUESTION: Concluding this first interview and in view of the holidays and the New Year we would like you to send your own message to the personnel of the Armed Forces and their families.
ANSWER 17: Peace, focus on the objectives and the causes of our mission, spirit of cooperation and social responsibility, belief that personal development is directly related to the collective development and of course, personal and family happiness.
