The Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias attended today the Doxology held in the Church of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite and laid a wreath on the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, on the occasion of the celebration of the Armed Forces’ Day, representing the government and the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
The celebration was also attended by the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Evangelos Meimarakis, the Deputy Minister of National Defence Ioannis Lambropoulos, the Chief of HNDGS General Michail Kostarakos, the Chief of HNGS Vice Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, the Chief of HAFGS Lieutenant General Evangelos Tournas, the Chief of HAGS Christos Manolas, representatives of the parties, senior and general officers of the Armed Forces, the Police, the Fire Department and the Coast Guard, representatives of the Region of Attica and of the Municipality of Athens, former Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of the Armed Forces, retired officers of the Armed Forces, as well as Attachés of Foreign Embassies.
After the service, the Minister of National Defence made the following statement:
“We celebrate the Armed Forces’ Day on the same day with the great Christian feast of the Entrance of Theotokos into the Temple. The Greek government expresses its deep gratitude to the Armed Forces, to the men and women of our country’s Armed Forces, because they managed to preserve their battle-worthiness and be an example to the Greek society in difficult conditions and under unprecedented financial circumstances.
Allow me, however, to say that there is also another symbolism in this:
The Armed Forces’ Day symbolizes that the Greek people remain united across time, that they overcame the stereotypes of the past, the disagreements, the splits and that they ensured their national existence and their national interests permanently in a geopolitical environment under conditions that threaten the life model as a whole, not only the life model of the Greek people but also of democracy, as we perceive it in the Western Civilisation.
The Armed Forces of our country are the safeguards of Democracy for the future.
Congratulations!»
