The Alternate Minister of National Defence Dimitris Vitsas in an interview he gave on Wednesday 12 July 2017, on the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), to journalists Kostas Laskaratos and Vasilis Vasilopoulos stated, among other things:

Regarding the Cyprus’ EEZ:

I was informed this morning that the situation remains calm in the area of block 11; the drill and the respective ship are already in the region and I guess that today the exploratory drilling will take place according to the Cypriot leadership.

In the meantime, the Turkish side has announced that a combat firing practice will take place nearby. For the time being, this statement should be integrated into the rethoric of tension and the practice that this rhetoric follows on the part of Turkey. We are monitoring very closely what is going on in the region.

Regarding the negotiations for a settlement on Cyprus:

The Cyprus issue is not over. Geneva was not a shipwreck; on the contrary, we managed to address the substantial issues of the Cyprus question before everyone, such as the withdrawal of the occupying forces and the guarantee scheme, because if not solved, there can be no solution to the Cyprus issue either. At this point, it was revealed to the international community who is in favour of international law and who wants to obtain too many rights, rights of control over another country.

Regarding the problem with FYROM:

It was wrong that this point was raised in the Parliament. The logic of all that to search each time for an issue with bombast and supposedly involving opposition, does not help anyone, not even the person who does that. There have been decisions so far, we are heading in that direction, and if necessary, we may go back over this matter both at Parliament and country level.
It is just a historical issue; it has to do with issues of irredentism that need to be settled. The Government takes a very good common line, consisting in settling all these issues. Any issues of irredentism should be eliminated and as far as the issue of the name is concerned, we should adopt a name for all purposes, which should not offend the neighbouring countries.

Regarding the Turkish challenges in the Aegean sea:

It has become clear that in case of violation of our national space, this implies interception. The Ministry of National Defence and the Hellenic Armed Forces should always be ready. From a political assessment point of view, we went through recent more intense periods that may not have been of such a large communication scale.
We urge our neighbours to understand and calm down. We express our calmness, our composure and determination. That is a fact and we declare that we do not intend to fall into traps, such as the trap of armaments, but also there is no way we will retreat; the Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff said so with reference to the violations, that “certainly, the first takeoff may be made by our “friend and ally”, but the last takeoff will always be ours”. The same applies to our navy.

Regarding the Reconstruction of Production in Greece:

It may be simple enough for one to describe the reconstruction of production, but it is difficult to implement it, particularly in a country where its productive fabric has been broken up by political choice as of 1996, when instead of being turned to production, many things turned to other type of services, the Stock Exchange, etc. and economy was developing on credit, but even more during the memorandum era.

The underlying philosophy of how to reconstruct or construct from the beginning a productive fabric based on the comparative advantages is the following: where do the sources of financing originate from? In what way will the country and the state contribute to reconstruction? What system of incentives involves investment either foreign investment or by private capital or groups of producers or other services?

Regarding the Armed Forces:

The Armed Forces are committed to their constitutional duty; they are constantly in the process of training and preparation and education and commensurate with their abilities. In other words, there is no problem.

Regarding the restructuring of the Armed Forces:

Currently, the General Staffs complete the process that is governed by the following philosophy: where does the threat come from?  This is where the main forces should be concentrated. The crisis and crisis management procedures in 2017 may not be the same with the ones in 1990 or 1960. Our aim is to increase the availability in the main areas. This constitutes a comprehensive plan that corresponds to the needs of the country on one hand and the needs of the Armed Forces on the other hand.

Regarding the exit of Greece to the markets:

We should exit to the markets in a clearly calculated war, based on our needs and not for political purposes. We are able to do so; whether and when we will exit to the markets should have an economic relevance.