On Monday, 15 April 2019, the Alternate Minister of National Defence Panos Rigas, during the presentation of the bill “Regulations with Regard to Armed Forces Personnel Welfare, Recruitment, Military Justice, and other Provisions” to the Standing Committee on Foreign Policy and Defence, stated, among others, the following:

On the attack by ND’s Vice President Mr. Georgiadis against the Minister of National Defence:

In my opinion, the conclusion of the speech of Mr. Georgiadis, the representative of ND, was outrageous. This is the second time ND does that and there is certainly an inconsistency here.

First, when the Minister of National Defence Mr. Apostolakis assumed his duties, they identified him with the dictatorship period and a dictatorship minister.

So, now, Mr. Georgiadis, claims the following:

He accuses the Minister for the manner in which he deals with situations and participates in this government. This is Mr. Apostolakis. Mr. Apostolakis, the Minister of Defence, has a lot of experience, and, most of all, he has a full view of the Armed Forces and their personnel. This is what he did, this is what he served throughout his career.

So, you should make up your mind if this he resembles a dictatorship minister, if these are dictatorial methods, or if this is a man who is democratic and at the same time has deep knowledge of the Armed Forces and their personnel.

On the make-up of the Committees for conscientious objectors:

I start, once again, with Mr. Georgiadis claim that, apparently, the change in the make-up of the Committees for conscientious objectors will facilitate young people who pretend to have psychiatric or other problems to serve an alternative service somewhere close to their home, instead of serving at the front. He has made a huge mistake. The Committee evaluating physical fitness and the Discharge Committee are one thing, the Committee for conscientious objectors is a completely different thing. He should read more – because he claims that he knows everything about the Armed Forces. The suggested change in the make-up of the Committee for conscientious objectors also has to do with the harmonisation with the International Conventions and has to do with the scientific education needed to evaluate, in real circumstances and with actual information, whether a person really believes/feels that he would not wish to serve the Hellenic Armed Forces bearing arms.

So, it is really important that the Committee possesses all these scientific features, which not everyone possesses – neither I nor you have them; there are experts who possess them. So, the scientific part and the scientific documentation for this selection are safeguarded.

On the regulations for draft-evaders and conscientious objectors:

I will mention some statistics and I will give them to you during tomorrow’s discussion about the regulations for draft-evaders. In 2014 and 2015, before the regulations, we had approximately 3,000 draft-evader cases settled. After the regulations, in 2016 and 2017, this number came up to 5,000 cases. When the regulation period ended in 2018, this number came down to 3,000 cases again in 2018.

So, what does this mean? It means that the proposed regulations provide the opportunity, in a very difficult financial period for the Greek people, to the young people and their families to settle pending matters.

Furthermore, the number of conscientious objectors who served or are serving an alternative service increased in 2018, due to the regulations implemented. I will give these statistics and many others to you in order to get a view, all of you, of how these regulations provide an opportunity to solve problems, as well as an opportunity to stop inconveniencing young people, especially during the economic crisis.

On the bill to be passed in general:

This bill constitutes the result of systematic processing by all competent Staffs, as well as of the political will of this government to deal with old problems, injustices, and failures and to ensure the smooth and effective function of the Armed Forces.

The bill is about and attempts to solve accumulated problems and this is the only reason why we introduce it to Parliament: So that everyone can feel that this government truly corrects injustices, solves problems, and abolishes tailor-made provisions whose spirit has aroused discord among Armed Forces personnel.