On Monday, 12 November 2018, the Alternate Minister of National Defence Panagiotis Rigas, visited the Fleet Headquarters and Salamis Naval Base.

The Alternate Minister of National Defence was accompanied by the Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Nikolaos Tsounis HN, the Special Secretary of the Ministry Kalliopi Papaleonida, the Chief of the Hellenic Fleet, Vice Admiral Ioannis Pavlopoulos HN and the Commander of the Hellenic Navy Logistics, Vice Admiral Nikolaos Kafetsis HN.

During their visit, they had a tour of the Hellenic Navy’s units and the Naval Base’s workshops, where the Alternate Minister of National Defence addressed the civilian personnel.

In his address, he pointed out that:

“We should all be proud for an additional reason: The Salamis Naval Base, where the heart of the Hellenic Navy beats, is located in the same area, the Salamis Straits, where, in 480 B.C., the greatest naval battle of the ancient world took place, the Naval Battle of Salamis. The year 2020, that is 2500 years since that historical event, is not far away and we need to be prepared for it”.

He also stated:

“Speaking on behalf of the political leadership of the Ministry of National Defence, I am here with you, at the Fleet Headquarters, in Salamis Naval Base, to thank you and congratulate you for all these years of crisis; both the military and the civilian personnel, who, under difficult circumstances, with shortage of personnel, assets and funds, not only endured, but kept our Fleet’s morale and operational capability high”.

He continued: “Some things may be obvious, because they happen, but we must refer to them and become aware of them. Our country, being a developed country, suffered a sui generis financial crisis in times of peace.

During the first five, out of the eight memoranda years, we lost 25% of the Gross National Product, whilst the defence expenses have been reduced by 50%. Nevertheless, the Hellenic Armed Forces’ deterrent power has not been weakened in the slightest. This is confirmed by the fact that during the crisis period we remained a stability pillar, with even greater acceptance in the international arena. In addition, no external force even dared or thought to threaten our national sovereignty”.

He also pointed out:

“Today, during a period of increased challenges in the wider region and with the violations in the Aegean Sea being a repeated phenomenon in an effort to question our national sovereignty and integrity, our Navy remains under a high readiness state and preserves the availability of its assets. It declares its presence in a dynamic and decisive manner, through the constant successful missions of our warships, in a wide geographical range”.

He made a special reference to the Hellenic Navy’s armaments’ programs and pointed out:

“Since 2015, we, as Government, started an important effort of completing older armaments’ programs. Despite the financial difficulties, having as a rule the fulfilment of the Navy’s operational needs, always in balance with the rest Services and at the same time with due respect for the Greek taxpayer. Our goal is to maximise the operational readiness of the existing assets. We have been requested to find solutions for accumulated problems deriving from the past. Mostly, regarding the important issue of completing older programs that had bogged down, as well as of sustaining the Fleet’s units.

By way of example, I refer to the completion of the new type 214 Submarines program, the initiation of the process for the completion of the Guided Missile Fast Patrol Vessels, the upgrade of P3 ORION Navy Cooperation Aircraft, with the perspective of being operational again soon. All these, with a view to mainstreaming Armed Forces armaments programs expenditure”.

He concluded: “Your national contribution is important and several times in fact under adverse conditions, you manage to execute your mission, in accordance with the existing planning and your leaders’ mandates. I believe in you and for this I want to assure you that we will make every possible effort to support the work of the Fleet Headquarters and to improve the Salamis Naval Base operational conditions even more, so that you would commit yourselves to your high-level operational tasks, but also to your needs, to the full”.