Officers, NCOs, Privates, Seamen, Aircraftmen, National Guards and Civilian Personnel of the Armed Forces,

Today’s anniversary, a day of remembrance and honour, holds a special place in our history. The calendar coincidence of the Annunciation with the annunciation of national resurgence is crucial and deeply symbolic. Besides, the Revolutionaries of ’21 fought the ultimate battle for this reason, “for the holy belief in Christ and for the country’s freedom”.

The struggle for national regeneration concentrates, in a fascinating way, the faith, the self-denial and the sacrifice of the few, the weak and the unarmed, teaching the way to ensure human dignity and showing that the Greek race remains rebellious, brave, aspirant of life and avenger of disgrace, injustice and arbitrariness.

Those people, the heroes who taught us that there are no forelost battles where there is faith and justice. Faith in ideals, love for the country and for freedom, such elements teach Greeks to be committed to the lines of– personal and collective –  life of natural law and to exercise their right and holy duty to live; live free in their country, keep their faith, their language, their identity. Yet, this holy struggle needs “virtue and courage”, and the Revolutionaries of ’21 had both virtues.

We should learn from their example. We should realise that without principles, without truths, without orientation and noble causes, leadership loses its quality and that becomes dangerous. It becomes dangerous since a “decadent” leadership – especially during circumstances of crisis and confusion – allows foreign interests, unpatriots and cringers to act and exploit the people’s effort, sweat and dignity.

We should all realise that the struggle for freedom, dignity and national independence is a heavy and constant struggle. Nothing is granted, nor is it given, if we are not ready and decided to fight in order to defend it. The nations without national character are doomed to submission. The symbolism is even deeper since, besides the special time for the History of the Hellenic Nation, it concentrates a series of messages that work not only as a national treasure, but also as a deposit of principles with historical and ecumenical value.

With their struggle, the Greeks shocked the authoritative countries, awakened the enslaved peoples in Europe and inspired the civilised world. The Greeks did not only cast off the yoke and humiliated tyranny, but they also created for the entire Europe the moral and political conditions for the emergence of various national revolutions and the satisfaction of the right for national self-determination and the people’s self-definition. Such things should not be forgotten and they cannot be valued in Euros.

Therefore, we were the ones who taught what does the term “Freedom” mean for a nation and its citizens. We established the phrase “Freedom or death” as a general ideological acknowledgement which incarnates the demand of a social entity to divest itself of extraneous autocracies and extreme authoritativenesses, and to convert its members from subjects to citizens.

We declared that Freedom, as it was rooted in the historical minds of Rigas and Makrigiannis, is not a metaphysical notion, elusive, immaterial and hypothetical, but it has three concrete views: Independance, Democracy and the peak of political life, with the conquest of Political Freedom.

We all know that freedom does not exist as a steady circumstance and a permanently ensured benefit, but as a constant, consistent and arduous conquest. Threats exist nowadays as well, intense and under a different form. The circumstance is critical; especially for Europe, there are visible threats which undermine the notion of a common European nucleus, the beginning of social cohesion but, much further, they threaten democracy in Europe.

Women and Men of the Armed Forces,

The Greek State has entrusted you with its security against outside threats, as well as with the protection of National Rights, always as a link to the unfailing Hellenic History.

It is in our hands, in the hands of all Greeks, to fight for a financial and social regeneration and to encounter the humanitarian crisis that has hit our country. We are certain that with the support of all Greeks, this can be done and it will be done. This is our common goal and no one is redundant. From now on we should all speak for the future, for the hope and unity of Hellenism. For Greece is, and has always been, the pillar of Europe and of the Western world, to the struggles against tyranny, totalitarianism and all forms of fundamentalism.

Even nowadays, with so many fiscal problems, our country is a key pillar and a trustworthy ally of the western world and the Euro-Atlantic security system, a guarantor of stability and security in the turbulent area of the SE Mediterranean. It is something that all partners and allies recognize to us and, notwithstanding our political differences, they reckon us. And this is not simply my allegation. It is an ascertainment which is based on our historical course, our geopolitical position and our country’s Armed Forces.

Concluding, I would like to convey a message, since I am not one of those people who label our country’s holy traditions as “outdated obsessions”; celebrate this day and keep the customs and our symbolic-traditional celebrations. Parents and citizens should be proud of their children, students and soldiers, at parades, without iron fences and bars. The national feast is a celebration; it is pride that we need so much, but also emotion, by admiring our youth and the competence of the Armed Forces.

We should celebrate, we should feast, we should honour our heroes. When people celebrate something, they express their need to remember; their joy for something that has happened, that has marked collective life and that must not, and should not, be forgotten. Celebrating means honouring; honouring the fighters, honouring their ideals, honouring our history and being led by it.

Just like the heroes of ’21 fought and gave their lives so as to deliver a free Greece, we also have the obligation to create a Greece that is better than the one we inherited, and deliver it to the next generation.

Many happy returns to you all. All the best.

Long live the 25th of March
Long live the Hellenic Armed Forces
Long live the Nation

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      The Minister of National Defence
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Panos Kammenos