A conference was held at the Ministry of National Defence by Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias, and Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, aiming at the cooperation of the two Ministries in matters of satellite communications of the Armed Forces.
The Conference was attended by Deputy Minister of National Defence Giannis Kefalogiannis, Deputy Minister of Digital Governance Konstantinos Kyranakis, Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff General Dimitrios Choupis, Secretary General of the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence Antonios Oikonomou, Secretary General of Telecommunications and Post Konstantinos Karantzalos, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister Thanos Dokos, CEO at the Hellenic Centre for Defence Innovation Pantelis Tzortzakis, and competent staff officers of the Armed Forces.
Following the conference of 3 July 2024, held at the Ministry of National Defence, the matter of procuring and operating a National Satellite, and its exploitation by the Armed Forces was discussed, as well as the cooperation of the Ministry of Digital Governance with the Hellenic Centre for Defence Innovation.
During his introductory intervention, the Minister of National Defence stated:
“Dear colleague, Minister, Mr. Secretary, we thank you very much for your visit today to the Ministry of National Defence. What is remarkable, due also to your great efforts, is the tightening of the bonds of the Ministry of National Defence, that is, in reality, the Armed Forces of our Country, with the Ministry of Digital Governance. That this need has arisen, that this need is covered by our close cooperation, demonstrates exactly how our armed forces, the whole country – but I speak in the name of the Armed Forces, together with the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff to my left – we are passing into a new era, in which new digital technologies are a necessary ingredient for practising the doctrine of deterrence. We have many matters to discuss. We have to discuss the matter of the communications satellite of the Armed Forces, which, for us, is a necessary condition for their modernisation, the matter of microsatellites, and the matter of installing entities of your Ministry in already existing structures of the Armed Forces. This also leads to the further tightening of relations, participating in joint exercises abroad, double usage, and is extremely important. I would therefore, like to thank you, yet again, for your presence here, for your cooperation, to which I look forward. I expect, that, when we depart – for we all depart one day – that we leave behind us a different reality, a different virtual reality, both in the Armed Forces and in the country. I thank you very much yet again”.
On his part, the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, stated:
“Our cooperation with the Ministry of National Defence and Minister Nikos Dendias is proceeding apace. It is impressive that Greece is now at the centre of the space ecosystem. Both the projects materialising today, and the interest of big companies which produce space technology, put our country at the centre of developments. We are deepening the fields of our joint action through the National Microsatellites Programme, which includes a satellite as well as a terrestrial side, with the concentration hub and information-processing hub, while the deliberation concerning the new telecommunications satellite went very well. The world is changing, conditions are changing, in order to bring peace and safety internationally. In this framework, we are strengthening and broadening our cooperation even further. As the Ministry of Digital Governance, it is a joy and honour to be at the side of the Armed Forces”.
