On Tuesday 16 September 2025, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias, accompanied by the Chief/HNDGS General Dimitrios Choupis, attended the unveiling ceremony of the Monument of the Fallen in the Battle of Rimini, which was held in Kavyli, Orestias.
The ceremony was organised by the Municipality of Orestias and commenced with a memorial service, officiated by his Eminence the Metropolitan of Didymoticho, Orestias, and Soufli, Mr. Damaskinos. The unveiling of the Monument and wreath laying followed.
The ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Digital Governance Christos Dermentzopoulos, the General Secretary of the Reception of Asylum Seekers Dimitrios Glymis, the Secretary of the Decentralised Administration of Macedonia and Thrace Dimitris Galamatis, the Head of Region for Eastern Macedonia – Thrace Christodoulos Topsidis, the Coordinator of Restoration and Reconstruction of Evros Giorgos Kellis, the Mayor of Orestias Adamantios Papadopoulos, the Deputy Mayor of Rimini Francesca Mattei, the President of the Panhellenic Association of Rimini – Sacred Band Expeditionary Forces Fighters Georgios Monogyios, representatives of Local Governments and institutions, as well as relatives of the fallen.
On behalf of the military leadership, the ceremony was also attended by the Commanding General of the Hellenic First Army/EU-OHQ Lieutenant General Stavros Papastathopoulos as representative of the Chief/HAGS, the Commanding General of D Army Corps Lieutenant General Panagiotis Kavidopoulos, representatives of the Hellenic Police and Fire Service, as well as active duty and retired Officers and NCOs of the Armed Forces.
In his address, the Minister of National Defence mentioned the following:
“Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour for me to be here today in Kavyli, but it is an even greater joy for me, not just because of my visit here – I come here rather often as you know -, but because, this time, we are here to honour a most bright moment of the Greek World War II history, the Battle of Rimini in September 1944. A battle that projected the presence of the Hellenic Armed Forces in this great struggle for Freedom and Democracy, let alone in a period of time, when Greece had not yet been liberated. You remember, of course, that the Germans were pressured to leave Greece, in October 1944.
Thus, our contribution to the allied struggle was brought forth, as did the fact that it was not limited within the borders of our National Territory, but rather served the general struggle of all peoples for Freedom, even outside our enslaved, at the time, Country. From Northern Africa and the Battle of El-Alamein to the Italian Front and the effort to breach the Gothic line of General Field Marshall Kesserling, with the presence of the Sacred Band and the 3rd Mountain Brigade.
Our presence was always incorporated in the steady dedication to the principles of Freedom and human rights. This monumental historic moment is also part of that broader national effort.
Ever since that battle, the name “RIMINI” has been accompanying the 3rd Brigade. It is a reminiscence not only for those who serve, but also for all of us, the people of duty and historical responsibility.
And the fallen of that battle, remind us of the self-evident, timeless message: Freedom is not to be taken for granted. Independence is not to be taken for granted. The have to be protected. They are protected through struggles, great efforts, and many times, by paying the ultimate price; that of human life.
I would like to tell you something that I tend to repeat often. The historic example and the historic remembrance already has, but also obtains, particular significance anew when it turns into modern practice. Our historic continuity is protected through specific choices.
Today, it is evident in the enormous, I have to say, effort of the Armed Forces for reform, in order to enter the new reality and fulfil their own, basic, constitutional, and patriotic duty. That is to serve the freedom and independence of Greeks. To secure the ultimate goods of life, freedom, and independence of all Greek men and women. That is what we have named “Agenda 2030”.
Today, in the 21st Century, the Hellenic Armed Forces also serve abroad. In the Western Balkans, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Red Sea, where we are leading Operation “ASPIDES”, in Operation “IRINI” in the northern coasts of Libya, and the United Nations operation near Lebanon.
Through that presence and those struggles, Greek men and women, the personnel of the Armed Forces, serve the universal good of legitimacy, the European interests, as well as the Greek ones.
Allow me to make a brief, general mention to all those who have lost their lives through time, beyond the narrow geographic borders of our Country, whether that was in battles, exercises, or humanitarian missions.
Those people, both women and men, were not “unjust” casualties, as the populist Press tends to call them.
The danger and acceptance of the potential loss of our most significant God-given good, that of our life, is something that the personnel of the Armed Forces willingly accept while serving an even more significant cause. And that cause is Country and man.
It is exactly that characteristic this acceptance of the potential sacrifice of their own life, which places the Armed Forces and their personnel in a different category than the rest of us. They deserve honour and our respect. Those who lost their lives during struggles are timeless heroes and glorious servants of Hellenism. Servants of the People and the Nation.
The Democracy of Athens, with its army of civilians, paid the ultimate tribute to those who fell outside of its borders, through the words of the most significant leader of classical Hellenism, Pericles, with his characteristic expression in the Epitaph: “The whole Earth is the tomb of famous men”. Today, we would have said “The whole Earth is the tomb of famous persons”.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Mayor, thanks to your initiative, today we honour those who fell in Rimini in 1944, and, through them, we honour those who fell in the Service of the Nation, the People, the Country, and the Idea of Mankind over time. We remember them and we ought to keep remembering them with love and respect. Because those people fell whilst protecting the values that our Armed Forces serve today. Namely, the Country, Freedom, Democracy, and the worth of Mankind.
With this Monument, the Municipality of Orestias offered a lasting, visible, and factual remembrance of the sacrifice of the fallen, but also of the duty of the living. That is the duty that the Armed Forces serve with dedication.
Mr. Adamantios Papadopoulos, Mayor of Orestias, I would like to thank you on behalf of the Ministry of National Defence and the Hellenic Armed Forces for what you offered us today: The constant remembrance of our national duty.
Thank you very much”.
