On 31 January 2025, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias attended the unveiling ceremony of the bust of Captain Ektoras Gialopsos HN at the Multipurpose Centre “Mikis Theodorakis” in Ilion.
Next, a memorial service took place, officiated by His Eminence, the Metropolitan of Ilion, Acharnes, and Petroupoli Athinagoras, followed by a wreath laying.
The ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Stefanos Gikas, MPs Dimitrios Kalogeropoulos, Ioannis Loverdos, Nikolaos Vlachakos, Nantia Giannakopoulou, the Deputy Head of Region for the Western Sector of Athens of the Region of Attica Vasileios Lolos, the Mayor of Ilion Andriana Alevizou-Koukouvinou, local government and various body representatives, the family of the late Captain Ektoras Gialopsos HN, family members of the fallen at Imia and crowds of people.
On behalf of the military leadership, the ceremony was attended by the Chief/HNDGS, General Dimitrios Choupis, the Chief/HNGS, Vice Admiral Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras HN, active duty officers and NCOs, the President of Alumni Union of the Navy NCO School, Lieutenant Pavlos Sofikitis HN (ret.), as well as retired officers and NCOs of the Armed Forces.
The Minister of National Defence stated in his address:
“Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great honour to be here today in Ilion, at the ceremony for the unveiling of the bust of Ektoras Gialopsos. Twenty nine years after the night at Imia.
Along with the memory of Ektoras Gialopsos, we honour the memory of Lieutenant Christodoulos Karathanasis HN and Lieutenant Panagiotis Vlachakos HN. I am referring to the ranks they held at the night they fell.
Greece, ladies and gentlemen, honours its dead. It is its duty to honour its dead.
Not only with panegyrics, but also by incorporating their example into our national narrative and the proof of a historical continuity and tradition.
The sacrifice for the Country during the execution of one’s duty proves that, as it happened in the past, it can happen today, if circumstances so require.
Thus it remains a model and an example for the new generations of Greeks. Because, at the end of the day, it is a balancing of values.
What comes first? The person, his survival or the survival of the eternal total of the nation?
The first choice, to chose the person, leads to the “pourquoi?”.
The second choice, the right choice as Kavafis would have said, leads to Karathanasis, Vlachakos, and Gialopsos.
10 days ago, I had also the great honour to attend the naming of an ISLAND patrol boat, a new patrol boat of our Navy, which is already named after Ektoras Gialopsos and in a few days it will be sailing in the Aegean.
It is one of the projects of the “2030 Agenda” that have already been implemented. An effort for a powerful Navy, which implements the deterrence that the survival of the Country requires, along with the rest of the projects.
Because we create and must have a Fleet, a strong Navy to guarantee our national interests; and in general the existence of our Country in its current geographical boundaries. In the end, if I may, the existence of us all.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the end of the day, the greatest element for the superiority of the Hellenic Navy and Greece in general is our personnel.
So, it is required of each of us, as you do today madam Mayor, to acknowledge the contribution to the defence of the Country; solidly and with actions.
First of all, with respect to the memory of the dead. And, may I add, with acknowledgment of the living serving today.
The example of Ektoras Gialopsos will accompany them and the Hellenic Navy”.