The Deputy Minister of National Defence, Mr. Nikolaos Chardalias, attended the Distinguished Visitors Day (DV DAY) in the context of ORION 22 Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise, which was carried out in the Special Forces Training Center at Nea Peramos, Attika.
DV DAY was also attended by Chief/HNDGS, General Konstantinos Floros, the US Ambassador to Greece, Mr. Geoffrey Pyatt, Chief/HAGS, Lieutenant General Charalampos Lalousis, Chief/HNGS, Vice Admiral Stylianos Petrakis, Chief/HCG-HPP, Vice Admiral HCG Georgios Alexandrakis, Deputy Chief/HFS, Lieutenant General Ioannis Petroutsos, as well as participating countries’ Defence Attachés.
ORION 22 Exercise, which will be carried out from 28 March 2022 to 8 April 2022, constitutes a Partial Deployment of Forces activity, focusing on Operational and Tactical Level Special Operations missions, as well as on the enhancement of participating forces interoperability.
Apart from the Greek HNDGS Special Operations Forces and Security Services Special Units, Special Operations forces (assets and personnel) of the Armed Forces of Bulgaria, France, USA, Israel, the Republic of Cyprus, and Observers from Egypt, Austria, and Montenegro, also participate in the Exercise.
Prior to the commencement of the activities, the Deputy Minister of National Defence delivered the following address:
“It is with great delight that we watch ORION 22 Multinational Special Operations Exercise, carried out with assets and personnel of the Armed Forces of Greece, Bulgaria, France, USA, Israel, and the Republic of Cyprus, and Observers from Egypt, Austria, and Montenegro.
Joint training of Special Operations forces between allied and friendly states promotes even further our countries’ already excellent and enhanced relations, which not only focus on military cooperation, but they extend to different areas of mutual interest, such as the economy, energy, transports, tourism, culture, and training.
Beyond all doubt, our countries share common principles and values, as well as the same commitment to International Law, the UN Charter, the Security Council Resolutions, and the Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Besides, our relations have always been based on the establishment of friendship and peace, and they are imbued with the shared desire to substantially contribute to the security, stability, and prosperity of the wider Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean region, which is attached high geopolitical and geostrategic importance, and often faces complex and complicated challenges that may endanger regional security and stability.
Greece, being an important part of this critical geopolitical area, is pursuing an active military diplomacy, having undertaken a critical role in promoting defence initiatives and establishing bilateral, trilateral, and multilateral cooperation forms with all the countries with which we share the same principles and values.
By combined actions in the fields of defence diplomacy and foreign policy, our country aims at establishing strategic partnerships, which strengthen its security and showcase its stabilizing and constructive role as a driving force of positive developments, as well as a link between the European Union and the Middle East.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are undoubtedly in the midst of a period of intense geopolitical disputes and rearrangements, which rapidly unfold, with the most recent case in point being the uncalled-for invasion of Russia in Ukraine, which sets in dispute the efficiency and power of International Law, and promotes the rule of might and the force of arms as the dominant factor of world balance, thus directly undermining the European and international peace and stability.
Opposing views among states have always been and will always be; however, each country has to remain strictly committed to the rules and principles of International Law, and strongly defend the opinion that all differences must be settled in a peaceful manner, whereby dialogue and diplomacy.
In conclusion, I would like to highlight that – over the years – Greece, due its undoubted strategic supremacy, has constituted a key country of the regional security system, by implementing a defence and foreign policy of firm principles and positions, which are based on International Law and equal bilateral relations.
In this context, our country will always be a reliable, powerful, and consistent NATO ally, by remaining the strongest pillar of stability in the wider area of the Balkans, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Northern Africa.
Thank you”.
