On Wednesday 29 May 2024, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias visited the headquarters of the 34th Mechanised Brigade in Assiros, Thessaloniki. The Minister was accompanied by Chief HAGS, Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis.
The Commanding General of C Army Corps/NRDC-GR, Lieutenant General Athanasios Garinis, and the Commanding General of the II Mechanised Infantry Division, Major General Athanasios Kontos, also attended.
During his visit at the 34th Mechanised Brigade, Mr. Dendias was briefed by its Commanding General, Brigadier General Stylianos Mavropoulos, on the Division’s mission, operational and training activities. Next, the Minister had the opportunity to address the personnel and confirmed the high morale, as well as their excellent training capability.
Addressing the members of the 34th Mechanised Brigade, Mr. Dendias stated:
“In fact, you are our “window” abroad. That counts a lot, I can assure you. We had yesterday the Council of the Ministers of the European Union in Brussels. There was a big discussion on European defence, this will develop in the years to come, and there will be steps towards the European army, the European defence arm. The need necessitates that and it will be done.
As everything works in the European Union it will be done at a slow pace, with steps backwards and hardships, but it will be done. As it happened with the common market, the monetary union, there will eventually be a single defence arm.
There is no need to discuss now how important this is for our country, given the challenges we face in the region. So, our presence abroad makes us an important factor in this course. It is very important to have members who participate in this course of European defence and also your own perceptions, i.e. of the Hellenic Army, to create to a great extent, as far as this is possible, the framework as well”.
