The Minister of National Defence Mr. Nikos Dendias, on Friday 26 January, attended the D Army Corps “THRAKI” Change of Command ceremony during which Lieutenant General Dimokritos Konstandakos relinquished responsibility to Lieutenant General Stavros Papastathopoulos.

The ceremony, which was held at the “CPT EMMANOUIL APOSTOLIDIS” military camp, in Xanthi, was also attended by:

• MP Spyros Tsiliggiris

• Head of Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Christodoulos Topsidis

• Mayor of Xanthi, Efstratios Kontos

• His Eminence the Metropolitan of Xanthi and Perithorio, Panteleimon

• His Eminence the Metropolitan of Didymoteicho, Damaskinos

• His Eminence the Metropolitan of Alexandroupoli, Anthimos

• ­His Eminence the Mufti of Xanthi Nezhden Chemseri

On the part of the military leadership, the Chief of National Defence General Staff General Dimitrios Choupis, and the Chief of Hellenic Army General Staff Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis were also in attendance.

Finally, the ceremony was attended by Senior and General Officers of the Armed Forces and the Security Forces, officers’ delegations from the three branches of the Armed Forces and Retired Servicemen Associations as well as local self-administration representatives.

During the awarding of a memorial gift to the outgoing commanding General of D Army Corps, Mr. Dendias stated:

“Chiefs of Staff, Generals, officers of the Armed Forces, ladies and gentlemen, Head of Region, dear colleagues,

It is with great joy and honour that I am back here, in Thrace. I would firstly like to say, that I feel justified, since, from the start of my political career I considered, and continue to consider that Thrace is a region of great strategic importance for our country, and not only.

That it has prospects for flourishing and a crucial role to play, something which is absolutely confirmed by the current developments and circumstances, without in any means implying that we have hit a ceiling. There are limitless prospects of further developing Thrace on every level.

I have felt the need, however, of being present at the changing of command of our country’s greatest land formation, that is D Army Corps.

I would also like to add that the greatest asset of the Armed Forces is not its cutting edge weaponry, but rather their personnel.

It is for this very reason that our country is obliged to guarantee the best possible conditions so that the excellent personnel of our Armed Forces fulfils its mission to its utmost abilities.

A decision has been taken by the Prime Minister, and will be set in motion by the Ministry of National Defence, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, for the near future, concerning a big scale housing program, which will cover the needs of the Armed Forces officers.

And not only the Armed Forces officers, since part of the housing program will meet the needs of other employees of the wider public sector, who offer their services to society, from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, that is, doctors and teaching staff.

We have chosen, however, that the first phase of this housing program readily start from Thrace and the Eastern Aegean islands. In the next two years more than 200 housing units will be constructed here in Thrace, raising the number of housing units available to our officers by more than 40%, and more than 400 in the Eastern Aegean islands, in order to ease the burden on our officers and improve their living conditions.

But, I will repeat, this is just the first, not the final, stage. Our aim, in the context of the “2030 Agenda” is to resolve the housing problem of the Armed Forces officers in its totality.

The second issue I would like to address concerns our weapon systems, again within the “2030 Agenda”. I would like to state to you that provision has been made for an anti-drone dome for our country’s Armed Forces. That is, for those measures which will allow our Armed Forces to operate unhindered by the threat of drones.

The coat of arms of the 20^th Armor Brigade, where I had taken part in exercises as a reserve officer, bears the motto “in the shade” and the answer of Leonidas to the Persian threat at Thermopylae is absolutely apt in the given circumstance.

Our intention is that in the complicated, modern operational environment, our country’s Armed Forces operate under the cover of a cutting edge drone dome.

I would like to thank you all yet again for your attendance here today and to wish the outgoing General and the new Commanding General of D Army Corps every success in their lofty responsibilities.

And reassure them for something which does not much resemble a “blessing”, concerning my future regular attendance at D Army Corps exercises.

We will be closely following you General; both the military leadership and we.

I wish you good fortune and wellbeing. I thank you all.”