The Minister of National Defence Panos Kammenos, the Chief of HNDGS Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, the Chief of HAGS Lieutenant General Alkiviadis Stefanis, the Chief of HNGS Vice Admiral Nikolaos Tsounis, the Chief of HAFGS Lieutenant General Christos Christodoulou and the Commander of the Higher Military Command of Interior and Islands Lieutenant General Nikolaos Manolakos attended a part of the Field Exercise “PARMENION 2017” which was conducted in Rhodes.

The Minister of National Defence made the following address:

“I am particularly pleased to be in Rhodes again and to watch a part of the joint exercise “Parmenion” which included a combined amphibious and air borne operation.

I am also pleased because I have been attending not only the active participation of the entire personnel of the Armed Forces in our biggest national exercise over the last days, but also the enhanced participation of our national guard. I am proud of it, since, it was from the island of Rhodes, right here, when a few months ago, I declared the year 2017 to be the “Year of Reservists and National Guards”.

A living example of this is the 92-year-old raider who is today on the front line of the observation of the exercise.

Activating critical battalions of the National Guard all over the Greek territory and activating also a number of mobilized units are substantial contributions to the readiness of the operational response of our Armed Forces.

The exercise “Parmenion” activates all the plans necessary to face any threat within the Greek territory and, mostly, in Evros and on our islands.

The training, the exceptionally high professionalism, the responsibility, the discipline, the high morale and the enthusiasm that the military personnel who participate in the exercise “Parmenion”, have, as I can see, here and all over Greece, prove the strong will of the personnel of the Armed Forces to defend the territorial integrity and the national interests, contributing, at the same time, to strengthening the morale of the population of remote areas.
 
Rhodes is an unbreakable part of our country’s defence system and a crucial area for the operational planning of the Armed Forces due to its position and its strategic value in the axis of Greece – Cyprus. As a result, it is our top priority to develop capabilities of amphibious and air borne operations which augment the readiness of our units in order to respond to a potentially challenging operational environment, like the one in Rhodes, including the entire area of the Dodecanese islands, as well as in a theatre of operations, like the one of the Aegean Sea. The exercise that was conducted proves the impressive capabilities of the Armed Forces in this kind of operations in order to face and defeat any sort of threat.

The government will contribute to the augmentation of the existent defence capabilities, as well as to the development of new ones, whereas the military leadership of the Armed Forces acts with military sangfroid and planning, reinforcing the military power of the country, so it can become a factor of stability, security and deterrence in the wider area of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The strong Armed Forces and the geostrategic position of the country help the country overcome the financial crisis.

We ask from our neighbours peace, cooperation, stability and respect of our sovereignty rights. But, irredentism, nationalism, territorial revisionism and religious fundamentalism in our neighbourhood do not allow us to be complacent. Our neighbouring country’s policy of increasing disputes and claims proves that it shows no respect of the principle of good neighbourhood.

The continuous Turkish occupation of a large part of the Republic of Cyprus, disputing the width of the Greek air space and the territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, disputing the sovereignty rights over the Greek islands do not allow us trust the alleged kind intentions of our neighbours. The international treaties exist in order to become the guarantee for the peaceful coexistence of our peoples.

Unfortunately, you, the residents of the Dodecanese, you live almost every day situations of violation of international treaties, as well as of the International Law, and of ethics itself. At the time the exercise was being conducted, they tried again to enter the Greek air space illegally and they were immediately intercepted by the Hellenic Air Force. As the Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff said, the last plane to land will be the Greek one.

The exercise “Parmenion” has confirmed the readiness and the quick response of the Armed Forces and the state mechanism in situations of escalation of a crisis in conditions of war conflict. At the same time, for the Armed Forces of our country, this is the confirmation of an excellent and pragmatic training.

At this point, I would like to send a clear message from Rhodes, that: “Whoever tries to offend our country and our nation, should be aware that we will not allow ourselves be proven unworthy of our ancestors’ sacrifice, and of our duty towards our nation. We are descendants of Miltiades who fought back the intruders thanks to his intelligence. We are descendants of Themistocles who, thanks to his personality, was the main contributor to the victory at the battle of Salamis. We are descendants of the heroes of the battles of Valtetsi, Dervenakia, Skra, Kilkis-Lachana, Crete and many others, who thanks to their unique valour determined the future of our nation.

For our personnel, the duty and the love for their land are key principles in their everyday lives. Defending our ideals and values is their main concern.

I would also like to stress the important role of the Armed Forces in peace time, the social work they offer, the important work in every need of our country, in cases of natural disasters; as well as the work they offered in migration, the hospitality they offered to people who were in need. They gave house and food to those who needed their help, like our ancestors when they left Asia Minor. And the global community acknowledged this.

As a conclusion, I would like to convey the congratulations of the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, as well as of the entire government, to the local community of Rhodes and to the local authorities which contribute to the exercise, as well as to the leadership of the Armed Forces, to the Officers, the NCOs and conscripts and to the National Guards who make us proud with their professionalism.

I would like to thank the residents of Rhodes in particular, for embracing this exercise and for embracing the Armed Forces every day. We stand by the Greek people and we are with the Greek people. The personnel of the Armed Forces is an inseparable part of the Greek people and together we will move on to the future and ensure the national sovereignty, the territorial integrity, and our country’s progress in peace time.

Congratulations to all of you”.

Afterwards, the Minister of National Defence made the following statement:

“A part of the Exercise “PARMENION 2017” was conducted with the participation of permanent forces of the three General Staffs, under the command of the HNDGS. National Guards were present and participated actively, not in the manner they did so far, but they were essentially integrated in the personnel participating in the exercise, even in very crucial moments of the exercises and in advanced positions.

I would like to thank and congratulate the leadership of the Armed Forces, the Officers, the NCOs, the Conscripts and the National Guards because, at this stage, they actually proved that they can train all year long in case they need to fight a battle”.

JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, the work of National Guards is very often mentioned in the social networks. Over the last days, they expressed their discontent, their complain – if you prefer to call it like this – for the decision of the Ministry of the Interior according to which they would not be able to participate in the parade on October 28.

P. KAMMENOS: This is a big misunderstanding. A decision of the Ministry of the Interior existed and still exists and will be valid, regarding the parades of civilians which are directed by a physical education teacher or by the Headmaster of a school. In military parades, as you may know, it is an officer who directs the parade. The National Guard is an inseparable part of the Armed Forces. National Guards will participate in the parades all over Greece.

So nothing has changed. On the contrary, National Guards from different areas will parade after an invitation of the Armed Forces in various areas. We have National Guards from the Dodecanese who paraded, as you may know, last year in Thessaloniki. Something similar will happen this year too. We have Cypriot National Guards who will parade with heroes of ’74. There is no problem. The Ministry of the Interior will arrange everything related to the parade of pupils and it is our ministry that conducts military parades.

JOURNALIST: Do you have any comment about the Turkish overflight while the final stage of the exercise was being conducted?

P.KAMMENOS: The Turks, unfortunately, have not yet realized that they must respect the international rules, the agreements and the codes which have been applied for years. We saw them, on the day of Easter, on August 15 and during exercises violating even the informal agreement. We faced them today we face them also during the holidays. They did not manage to enter the airspace; they were intercepted by the Greek aircraft as they are intercepted almost every day.