On Wednesday, 18 April 2018, the students’ graduation ceremony of  the 70th National Defence College Training Course was held in the Hellenic Armed Forces Officers Club.

His Excellency, the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, honored the ceremony with his presence and presented the diplomas to the students.

The Alternate Minister of National Defence, Fotis Kouvelis, the Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, Kostas Gavroglou, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, the Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Alkiviadis Stefanis, the Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Nikolaos Tsounis, the Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff, Lieutenant General Christos Christodoulou, the Chief of the Hellenic Police, Lieutenant General Constantinos Tsouvalas and the Chief of the Hellenic Fire Department, Sotirios Terzoudis, attended the ceremony. Representatives of the political parties attended as well.

In total, 70 students graduated, of whom 66 Senior Officers (46 Army Officers, 7 Navy Officers, 5 Air Force Officers, 1 Police Officer, 1 Fire Fighter, 4 Cypriots, 1 Egyptian, 1 from FYROM) and 4 Civilians (From the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of  Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media, the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport).

The Alternate Minister of National Defence, Fotis Kouvelis pointed out in his address that ‘the co-training effected in the National Defence College contributes to the achievement of a common understanding among members of the Armed Forces and other broader public services, regarding contemporary challenges and concerns of the international arena, and it further contributes to the strengthening of friendship with other states, since we are delighted to provide training to international Officers’.

He went on: ‘It is extremely important that through the National Defence College an opportunity is presented to members of high educational level to possess a full understanding of the wider sector of Strategic Studies and also of the international arena and the developments that affect defence and security issues, in the national and regional level. This helps each one of the graduates to fulfill, in the best possible manner, the duties that he is going to undertake, after returning to his post’.

He also stated: ‘The defensive armouring of every country does not only depend directly on the Armed Forces, but on the specialization and training of its personnel as well, who staff its competent services. As a result, the level of the provided further training of the National Defence College was upgraded, due to the College’s cooperation with the International, European and Area Studies Department of Panteion University and the Post Graduate Studies Programs of Plymouth University as well’.