“I would like, first of all, to welcome very dear and particularly respectable people to the family of the Armed Forces. I refer to the participants, to the movement of the Navy and to their families; to people who became a sacrifice, lost their lives or their physical soundness, exposed their families to the fury of those who broke their oath during the dictatorship.

To those who opposed themselves to this point at which the “rough and hard way to virtue” end and on which only the feet of brave men can walk, as Andreas Kalvos would say.

And it could not happen differently. The tradition of the Navy, its historical legacy and nature create an aversion to the stranglehold of fascist regimes.

This aversion was expanded to the other branches. The officers who took part were proven to be what Thucydides says, “bold beyond their strength, venturesome beyond their better judgment and sanguine in the face of dangers”, as you, Your Excellence Mr. president, quoted it aptly in your address in the foreword of the book.

The result was that the mutiny of the Navy, with the cooperation of personnel of the Army and the Air Force, is considered a significant opposition of the Armed Forces against the military junta and not a “an unsuccessful attempt of a movement of a few retired officers” as the dictators alleged.

Today, 44 years later, the Hellenic Republic expressed its admiration and gratitude to this personnel of the Armed Forces who resisted.

We, the younger, are obliged to preserve the national memory alive, to preserve the historical moments which marked the history of this country. Yet, at the same time, we should decode, voluntarily and avoiding any shortsighted attitudes and complexes, the message of the day, we should learn lessons and think of similar examples in our days.

We should think how mature and strong our democratic institutions are in comparison to back then; we should realize how we ended up in an unfree regime with destructive consequences for our national interests.

We should examine the events which led to the democratization of the politics in Greece in 1974 and to the accession of Greece to the European Union in 1981.
 
In today’s event, an excellent work has been presented: “The people of the mutiny of the Navy 1973” by Vice Admiral Ioannis Paloumpis. It presents interesting views and also the personalities of the protagonists of the Naval mutiny, designed by the pen of our favourite Giorgos Psaropoulos.

The writer who participated in the movement, has also conceived the meaning of things very carefully. And this can be easily understood from the very title “The people of the movement of the Navy” because it is exactly the people who make the difference.

The Ministry of National Defence has focused its efforts on that. Our policy which the Alternate Minister Mr. Vitsas and I apply, with the guidelines given by the Prime Minister, as I have said many times, has been proven to be effective and people-centered, offering a number of activities to the Armed Forces.

Mr. Admiral, we follow your work, your books, we admire it. I would like to assure you that you, the heroes of the Hellenic Navy, make us proud. You are examples to all of us; to the political and military leadership, officers, NCOs, conscripts and national guards.

You and everybody else who contributed to the creation of this book and for the legacy you give to the next generation, for your contribution to the documentation of our long history, of the historical continuation of an entire nation, reminding us what a society of united and determined people can achieve when the circumstances require it and the historical duty dictates it, deserve our admiration.

Your Excellence Mr. President of the Hellenic Republic,

You are the symbol and the guardian of political institutions, a symbol of unity and you settle any differences to the national benefit and according to velar objectives: rule of law, democratic governance, security and stability, social prosperity, quality of life, level of civilization.

Addressing to the first citizen of this country and Chief of the Armed Forces of the country, I wish to stress the unquestioned fact that the Armed Forces of the country, today, are a support of the nation and democratic institutions, a guarantee of our national security. They are a healthy piece of the Greek people which operates every day to the benefit of the community.

The Armed Forces unite us as Greeks. They are the point of reference for the entire nation; they are a place of concord, solidarity and National Cohesion.

I would like at this point to thank our colleagues, the MPs and representatives of the parties and ask them once more to leave the Armed Forces out of any political controversies; we should attain such conditions in which, while a debate is conducted about the vote for the budget of the country – and there is a huge political debate until the end of the year – the budget of the Armed Forces be voted unanimously. This will be a sign of respect and a message of unity.
 
To this direction, I wish to assure you that the Ministry of National Defence will do anything for the whole planning to be the result of a cooperation.

On the occasion of today’s event on board the armoured cruiser “AVEROF” vessel, I take the chance to reiterate that this legendary vessel will sail again to Thessaloniki on October 28, where it will remain for a whole month.

We will accompany this vessel, as we ought to, in this journey which will be an important presence during the parade in Thessaloniki.

“Barbagiorgis”, as people also call armoured cruiser “AVEROF”, after it helped to double the size of Greece, it operates today as a museum and it teaches us that there are values and symbols in this country which reinforce loyalty, activate our national reflexes against any threat to our country.
 
As a conclusion, I would like to quote a former President of the Republic, konstantinos Tsatsos’ advice to young officers: “do not forget that every office in a state is given their power by the people. Everyone ought to act according to their own duty because only then the whole nation will be able to act according to the duty it has undertaken”.

With the blessing of our Church, I wish, just as we are here with the first citizen of the country, to continue our course, supporting the biggest weapon of the Hellenic Armed Forces, the people of the Armed Forces with such examples like you who resisted to defend Democracy, Constitution and the Greek Flag”.