“Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Civilian Employees, and National Guardsmen.

On the occasion of the New Year, please accept my warmest wishes to you and your families for good health, happiness, and success in your endeavours.

The past year was very critical for our Country. 2019 was marked by great demands and obligations, the greatest for us, the Armed Forces, being to maintain the country as a pillar of stability and security in the broader Southeast Europe and East Mediterranean region, a dynamically changing and particularly demanding environment.

Our many small everyday victories, from the tactical to the military – defence diplomacy level, with the unreserved assistance of the country’s political leadership, were the result of the systematic, persistent, and continuous professional efforts of the Armed Forces within the framework of their mission. At the heart of this effort were, as always, our personnel, who are the most important force multiplier of our deterrent capability.

We successfully continued to constitute a fixed reference point for our allies, consistently and cautiously meeting all our obligations and dealing with any violations, wherever they may come from, proving with actions that our country has always sought peace and cooperation, true to International Law, the International Treaties, and the values deriving from these. But, at the same time, we explicitly state that we always stand ready to protect our sovereign rights anywhere in the country.

We have intensified our efforts to upgrade and enhance the Armed Forces’ deterrent capability by promoting a series of key armament programmes for all three Services of the Armed Forces, as well as support programmes, while at the same time upgrading our defence industry.

At national level, we continued to help society, within the framework of dealing with climate and natural phenomena, great and unpredictable natural disasters and states of emergency, demonstrating to the people of this country that the Armed Forces stand beside them. Our social role for the year 2019, the “Armed Forces Social Contribution Year”, was very active and effective, a fact acknowledged by all Greeks.

Men and women of the Armed Forces,

My everyday conclusion from closely monitoring all your activities is that your high morale, professionalism, and conscious commitment to your duty, wherever you may serve, under any conditions, are what keeps the sword’s mighty cutting edge sharp.

Embracing the gravity of our role and our responsibility to Greek society, in 2020 we will continue, in line with the Government’s strategic decisions, to intensively enhance the operational readiness of all three Services of the Armed Forces, on one hand by upgrading their equipment and systems and, on the other hand, by upgrading our personnel through the training provided in order to enable them to continue fulfilling their mission under the best possible conditions. This will be also achieved through our continuous commitment to constant welfare, providing facilities in everyday matters for you and your families.

Through careful evaluation of all parameters, combined with innovative policies to use the National Guard and Reserve, we examine the recruitment of personnel in order to reinforce critical specialties in our Units, thus steadily building the future of our Armed Forces. The success triad is based on meritocracy, equal rights, and virtuous command.

At the same time, being fully aware of our role in society, in 2020 we will continue to provide active assistance, while also using our deep footprint to protect the environment.

Men and women of the Armed Forces,

The Hellenic Government, myself, and the Greek people all feel truly and wholeheartedly proud of all of you serving the country in every Army, Navy, and Air Force Unit across Greek territory.

I wish

that 2020 will be a year of peace, prosperity, stability, creativity, and progress for you and your families and, with the help of the Defender General, a creative year for the Armed Forces.

Happy New Year”.

                                                                                                                                                   -The-

                                                                                                                                   Minister of National Defence

                                                                                                                                    Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos