On Monday 20 January 2025, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias attended the New Year’s Pie cutting ceremony of the Ministry of National Defence, which was held in the distinguished guests area and the anteroom of the “Ioannis Kapodistrias” Conference Room.
The pie cutting ceremony was preceded by the inauguration ceremony of the renovated “General Officers Gate” and the Main Entrance of the Ministry of National Defence and by the Blessing Ceremony, which was officiated by His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Mr. Ieronymos B’. The renovations are a donation by the President and CEO of GEK TERNA Group, Georgios Peristeris, while businessman Athanasios Katselis donated a Holy Icon the Patron Saint of the Armed Forces, Virgin Mary, General Ypermachos.
The ceremony was attended by the Deputy Minister of National Defence Giannis Kefalogiannis, the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitrios Houpis, the Chief of Hellenic Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis, the Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Dimitrios – Eleftherios Kataras HN, and the Chief of Hellenic Air Force General Staff, Lieutenant General (HAF) Dimosthenis Grigoriadis.
Apart from the donors, the ceremony was also attended by the Commanding General of the Special Warfare Command of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Lieutenant General Georgios Manouras, the Director General of Defence Investments and Armaments, Major General Ioannis Bouras, the Director General of Financial Planning and Support, Finance Rear Admiral (ret.) Panagiotis Stathopoulos, the Director General of National Civil Defence and Public Relations, Honorary Ambassador Mihail Spinellis, the CEO of the Hellenic Centre of Defence Innovation, Padelis Tzortzakis, as well as other general and senior officers and Ministry of National Defence personnel.
During his address, the Minister of National Defence pointed out the following:
“Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would firstly like to wish you a Happy New Year, filled with health, prosperity, happiness, and success on both a personal and collective level.
This year, we combined the cutting of the New Year’s Pie, your Beatitude, with the inauguration ceremony of the new entrance and the Distinguished Guests Area, which were a donation of Mr. Georgios Peristeris and GEK TERNA. This is a step towards a broader attempt of reshaping the look of the Ministry of National Defence and its surrounding areas.
In short, that includes:
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A new Cyberspace building, which is already under construction, and is a donation by the Athanasios Laskaridis Charitable Foundation.
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The National Memory Memorial, which is also under construction right in front of us.
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The new bioclimatic face of the Ministry, which is designed by one of the best contemporary Greek sculptors, Mr. Kostas Varotsos.
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The programme of planting five hundred trees in Camp “PAPAGOU”, so that it can be rendered a greenbelt for the surrounding area and the personnel working here. More than four thousand personnel work here in Camp “PAPAGOU”.
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The design of an underground parking lot of 1230 spaces, so that the additional space created can also become a park after it is vacated.
So, we are talking about a complete transformation of Camp “PAPAGOU”. Allow me the honesty when I say, that from a terrible architectural reminiscence of the dictatorship era, characterised by an endless series of aesthetically tragic and erratic choices, it will turn into the implementation of a modern philosophy and the continuation of the expression of national unity.
And I would like to point out that the talent of Kostas Varotsos expresses this national unity in the best way possible.
We hope that we will make an impact worthy of the history of our Armed Forces and our Country, as well as of their course towards a more dynamic future. Additionally, we hope that we will make an impact worthy of the dedication of the Armed Forces personnel towards the Country and Nation. All these interventions are for you, the women and men, who honour the Country and National Emblem that you wear with your services.
The “2030 Agenda” aims at modernising the Armed Forces. However, it mostly concerns the personnel of the Armed Forces, because at the end of the day, any alterations in the structure or function of the Armed Forces or any procurement of the most modern weapons systems, is futile, if there is no capable personnel to utilise them for the benefit of the Country. And,mainly, personnel who feel that the State is right beside them and offers them everything they need in order to work and live well with their families.
This is why, the living conditions of the personnel must constitute the priority of every Government. And it is a priority of the present Government.
We are promoting actions which include:
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Housing for all personnel and their families regardless of their place of transfer. As you know, the first phase of a housing programme is already underway, for which 100 million Euros were allocated by the Prime Minister to the budget of the Ministry. We plan on continuing this phase, so we can reach at least 4000 houses until 2030.
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Improved medicinal care through the creation of a model for providing exemplary medical services in the health system.
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Upgrading of all support facilities, such as the Kindergarten network and the creation of new facilities, such as the Centre of Special Developmental Care for Children with Special Needs, Daily Life Accommodation Facilities for people with Special Needs, as well as Care Facilities for the Elderly. Retired officers have a right to benefit from the care provided by the Ministry after retiring.
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Improvement of the training of our personnel, by upgrading the facilities and equipment of the Military Academies and the taking measures, which have already been legislated, and which provide our personnel the capability of research and specialisation.
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In the meantime, we created a modern career path for our personnel.
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A new, fairer wage grid, which is proportional to their positions of responsibility and duty.
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A different transfer system, which will provide motivations, promote professional development, and render creating families easier. I will say it once more that the greatest national threat is the reduced birth rates and the ageing of our population.
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Additionally, we are trying to create a technologically advanced environment. The most advanced and innovative environment in Greece, which will render serving the Country an honour, as much as it is a challenge for all personnel today.
Our donors play a significant role in our attempt to completely reform everything. They are benefactors; people who embraced the Hellenic Armed Forces and project the spirit of contributing to the Country and to society.
Mr. Peristeris,
I would like to express my gratitude for your generous gesture once again. And to thank you, because I know that this is not your only benefaction of the Armed Forces. The Chief of Hellenic Air Force General Staff has briefed me on your contribution for improving the facilities of the Hellenic Air Force Academy.
I would like to express my certainty, however, that, even after those two donations, we will keep on having you by our side, because the Country can only remain strong when all its social and financial powers stand together and aid the national attempts for improvement.
I would also like to thank Mr. Katselis for his donation of the Holy Icon of Virgin Mary, General Ypermachos.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The new year finds us facing an incredibly complex and demanding geopolitical reality, which contains numerous instability factors. I would like to repeat that, nowadays, this is a constant. This instability demands the rapid modernisation of the Armed Forces.
The “2030 Agenda” is not a political choice of the Mitsotakis Government. It is the demanding and delayed, I dare say, child of our national demands. And we must look a little further than just our national survival. We must have a horizon of greater, broader ambitions, beyond stereotypes.
The facilities inaugurated today, which are characterised by whiteness, reflect the clarity of this new philosophy. The philosophy of development, adaptation to modern demands, and innovation.
The cutting of the New Year’s Pie is an element of our Greek and Christian traditions, Your Beatitude. A symbolic deed of unity and rejuvenation. And the coin inside it is a symbol of luck, progress, and collective prosperity. But we all know well, that real luck is the fruit of hard work, cooperation, and our faith in the common, timeless national goal. Because this is the way we can create a future which can measure up to our Country’s longer-than three thousand years of History.
I would like to wish all the best from the bottom of my heart, to each and every one of you and a Happy New Year.
Thank you very much”.