The Minister of National Defence Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos, met with the Boards of the Associations of the Retired Officers of the Armed Forces (ΕΑΑS, ΕΑΑΝ, ΕΑΑΑ) and discussed issues of interest for the Associations and the veterans of the three branches of the Armed Forces.

The delegation of the Association of Retired Army Officers (EAAS) consisted of the President, Lieutenant General Periklis Mavroudopoulos, the Vice-President, Major General Evangelos Danias, and the member of the Association, Lieutenant Colonel Ioanna Frangouli-Benaki.

The delegation of the Association of Retired Navy Officers (EAAN) consisted of the President, Lieutenant Admiral Spiridon Pervenas, the Vice-President, Lieutenant Admiral Theodoros Geroukis, and the deputy Executive Director, Captain Haralambos Aidinis.

The delegation of the Association of Retired Air Force Officers (EAAA) consisted of the President, General Konstantinos Iatridis, the Vice-President, Major General Konstantinos Dellis, and the Executive Director, Major Georgios Kassavetis.

The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Ministers of National Defence Mr. Panagiotis Karambelas and Mr. Dimitrios Elefsiniotis, the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff General Mihail Kostarakos, the Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff Vice Admiral Kosmas Christidis, the Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff Lieutenant General Antonios Tsandirakis and the Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff Lieutenant General Konstantinos Gkinis also joined the meeting.

After the meeting, Mr. Panagiotopoulos and Mr. Pervenas made the following statements:

P. PANAGIOTOPOULOS: We had a long lasting working meeting with the Presidents and the members of the Boards of our country’s Associations of the Retired Officers of the Armed Forces.

First of all, so as to focus on serious difficulties faced by thousands of families of retired pensioners during this period, due of the budgetary cuts.

Moreover, in order to see how we can relieve all these people, to a great deal, from the difficulties they suffer from in their everyday life and in the same time to prepare the meetings of the Presidents of the institutional Associations of the Retired Officers of the Armed Forces of our country with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, that will take place in the following days.

I would like to thank the Presidents and the Boards, the members of the Boards of the institutional Associations of Retired Officers of the Armed Forces of our country and to emphasize that the greatest mission that we face during the current period is to relieve all these people, to a great deal, from the difficulties they suffer from in their everyday life.

Things are not easy. They are difficult. We all know it. But step-by-step, moving upwards, I think that we will succeed, all together.

Thank you again for the cooperation, the staidness, the maturity and the high level of the effort that we all together make.

SP. PERVENAS: Mr. Minister, on behalf of the three Presidents we would like to thank you for receiving us. Besides, it is not the first meeting we have and this is really fulfilling for us.

We would also like to thank both the Deputy Ministers and the military leadership for joining this long discussion.

Of course, the problems are really serious. We recognize that both you and the rest military leadership try to resolve these problems. We are satisfied by the fact that the Prime Minister will meet us, giving us the opportunity to analyze in depth, with facts and real data, the problem that we face.

Obviously, we do not ask to be disconnected from the rest of the Greek society. Nevertheless, what we ask for is that any injustices -even if it is according to our judgment- concerning the cuts of the veterans have been done, need to be restored. We do not ask for something exceptional, compared to the rest of the Greek people, and we recognize that the country suffers under a very difficult financial crisis.

Thank you very much.