On Tuesday, 29 June 2021, the Deputy Minister of National Defence Alkiviadis Stefanis, representing the President of the Hellenic Government, attended the Special Warfare Command Demonstration of operational capabilities, in the context of its establishment and activation, at Pahi, Megara.

The demonstration concerning the capabilities of Special Operations, conducted with the support of Navy, Air Force and Army Aviation assets, aiming at the appropriate preparation of these forces, so that they confront the security threats and challenges arising in the modern operational environment.

The demonstration was attended by the Chief/HNDGS General Konstantinos Floros, the Chief/HAFGS Lieutenant General Georgios Blioumis, the Chief/HAGS Lieutenant General Charalambos Laloussis, the Chief/HNGS Vice Admiral Stylianos Petrakis, the Chief of the Port Pollice-Hellenic Coast Guard Vice Admiral Theodoros Kliaris, the Chief of the Fire Service Lieutenant General Stefanos Kolokouris, a representative of the Hellenic Police Force, Their Excellencies Ambassadors of USA Geoffrey Pyatt, of Cyprus Kyriakos Kenevezos, of Albania Luela Hajdaraga and of North Macedonia Lidija Boshkovska, the Mayor of Megara Mr. Gregorios Stamoulis, as well as the Defence Attachés of France, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania.

The address of the Deputy Minister of National Defence, in its Greek version, is the following:

“Representing today the Greek Government and conveying the Prime Minister’s personal greetings, I am attending today’s demonstration of the high operational capabilities of the Special Warfare Command; its formation and activation, in light of the new Armed Forces Structure, as it was approved by the recent Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence, marks a new era on how the Armed Forces conduct operations.

We are now living the fourth industrial revolution. Greece, due to its undisputable geostrategic prevalence in the Balkans and the East Mediterranean, has to face a series of complex and multidimensional potential challenges, risks and threats, with rationalism, reliability and efficiency, so as to ensure its national sovereign rights in the best possible way.

In this context, the Armed Forces are required to play a decisive and demanding two-fold role: on one hand, they have to protect our country’s national independence and territorial integrity; on the other hand, they have to ensure stability for the entire NATO South-Eastern flank, bringing to the fore the strong mark of its unquestionable deterrent capability.

To accomplish that, it is constantly modernised and strengthened, by upgrading or acquiring new weapon systems, and all that, with significant added value of the domestic defence industry.

At the same time, our true force multiplier, our personnel, is being enhanced in both quality and quantity, as more cadets are admitted in the Military Academies for Officers and NCOs of all Services and, in addition, new Professional Soldiers and Short term re-enlistment soldiers are hired, thus rendering the Armed Forces personnel our most important weapon system.

In this light, it can be easily seen that the contribution of the high fighting capability and constant operational readiness of the Armed Forces, as a means for exercising active and multidimensional defence diplomacy, is critical, as it further promotes our country’s stabilizing and constructive role, establishing it as a pillar of stability and a provider of security for its geographic surroundings.

As a matter of fact, defence is traditionally the basis, and the rational tool for the fulfilment of the goals set by diplomacy and foreign policy, aiming at consolidating peace and security, developing good neighbourly relations and creating the conditions for progress, prosperity, and sustainable social and economic development.

To conclude, I would like to highlight that as a country, we have always practiced a policy based on the principles of good neighbourly relations, respect of international law and the acquis communautaire; a policy that makes Greece stand unyielding before any threat, constituting an undivided and impenetrable web, on land, sea, and air.

I warmly congratulate the Command’s decision to perform these activities, which open a new chapter in the way the Armed Forces plan and fulfil their mission”.