The Minister of National Defence Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos attended on Friday 18 October 2019 the festivities which took place on Thasos, for the completion of 107 years since the island’s Liberation.

The Minister of National Defence attended the Doxology at the Holy Church of Saint Nikolaos at the Thasos Harbour, then he attended the Memorial Service, observed the parade and laid a wreath at the War Memorial for the Fallen.

The Minister of National Defence was accompanied on Thasos by the Chief of HNDGS General Christos Christodoulou.

After the end of the festivities, the Minister of National Defence made the following statement:

“We came today, on this wonderful autumn day, here on Thasos, to celebrate, along with the Municipal Authorities and the citizens of Thasos, the 107th Anniversary since the island’s Liberation.

The Hellenic Armed Forces, the Hellenic Navy liberated Thasos on this day 107 years ago, in a period when Greece was increasing its territorial sovereignty and was expanding, because, among other reasons, it had a firm Leadership and morale which characterised all the Greek people. And of course it had strong Armed Forces. Today, Greece has no goals of expansion, but it tries to enhance peace, striving to establish it in the wider region.

This goal once more requires -as it did then- a prudent Leadership, with a plan and decisiveness, people with judgment, sensible and willing to work hard.

If we combine these elements, then we can move forward in peace and of course having strong Armed Forces, we can discourage any malevolent plans against our sovereign rights.

That is the prerequisite, strong Armed Forces so that the country can move forward, in peace and towards an even better future.

I would like to sincerely congratulate all the people involved in this parade, the Municipal Authority which I thank for the warm hospitality and all the children who paraded. They made us proud and optimistic that there is a bright future for this country.

Furthermore, the members of the Armed Forces, both the Tactical Army detachment as well as the members of the National Guard who did their best to parade with the head held high, proud for the Homeland.

So, as I said earlier, if we combine all these elements, the Leadership, the people and one more common element, the love for the Homeland, then Greece will have a bright future.

Long live Thasos!

Long live Macedonia!

Long live Greece!”

Later, the Minister of National Defence answered the questions of journalists regarding current developments:

Journalist: Regarding the Refugee Crisis, are you monitoring the situation at a local and regional level too?

N. PANAGIOTOPOULOS: The Refugee Crisis is a developing issue. There are many thoughts regarding the accommodation of those who cannot be supported any longer by the islands, in the hinterland and many alternatives are considered.

I believe that in the winter you will witness a new plan for dealing with this problem.

Since you are asking me about issues of current and local interest, I have a statement to make regarding this infamous radar, which will not be installed on the island.

We must make clear that it is not a radar nor is it NATO equipment. It is a transmitter-receiver which the Civil Aviation Authority intended to install on the island at an infrastructure at the level of NATO, regarding its security specifications. That is the reason for this misunderstanding regarding the NATO radar.

If we had to deal with a NATO radar, then Chief as you understand, that would be an issue for the Ministry of National Defence, but it is not. However, since no briefing has been previously conducted, with a lack of respect of the Civil Aviation Authority towards the people of Thasos, we took the relevant initiative -having first communicated with the competent Minister of Transport- and as we speak, any planning is postponed until they explain to us and the people of Thasos about the nature of this equipment.

Journalist: Will you visit the relocation camp again?

N. PANAGIOTOPOULOS: Tomorrow I intend to visit the “Asimakopoulos” Camp. I have made the relevant arrangements, in order to inspect the works conducted there but also to prove wrong a false rumour circulating in the public opinion, claiming that the NGOs prohibit me from visiting the camp.

These were not my exact words. I had said that the current status is such that I wondered if I could visit the camp. However I will go there, to inspect up close what is taking place at an estate of the National Defence, which officially has not been ceded to anyone.

Consequently, we will see how things go and how we will handle this situation.

Journalist: Minister, if by any chance you are convinced by the Civil Aviation Authority that “Ypsario” is the appropriate location to install the transmitter-receiver, how will you proceed? Because this is an eventuality.

N. PANAGIOTOPOULOS: The Civil Aviation Authority will have to elaborate on what it wants to do. This has not been done adequately and so I think that it operates disrespectfully towards the local community.

So, it should contact us in order to elaborate on the subject, instead of trying to assign responsibility elsewhere, and let us see what we are dealing with exactly. Like I said earlier, there is no NATO radar on Thasos and no NATO radar will be installed in the future.