On Friday, 16 April 2021, the Minister of National Defence Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, together with the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Mr. Spyros Kapralos signed a Cooperation Protocol between the Ministry of National Defence and the Hellenic Olympic Committee.

The ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Minister of National Defence Mr. Alkiviadis Stefanis, the HNDGS/Deputy Chief Vice Admiral Ioannis Drymousis, the President of the National Olympic Academy Mr. Giorgos Alikakos and the person in charge of the Training Programs of the Hellenic Olympic Committee-National Olympic Academy, Mrs Denise Panagopoulou.

The cooperation protocol provides for the following:

• The program “I love Sports-Kids Athletics” continues, implemented annually by the Hellenic Olympic Committee and the National Olympic Academy in the Panathenaic Stadium and it is organized in the context of the celebration of the Armed Forces day, for the children of the Armed Forces personnel.

• The organization of training programs and actions continues-in islands of the Aegean and remote-inaccessible areas, where there are children of the Armed Forces personnel, with the support and appointment of the Ministry of National Defence personnel, concerning the said actions.

• Further training Meetings/Actions will be organized with the participation of the Armed Forces personnel, aiming at their initiation in the values of sports and the Olympic spirit. The Meeting will take place at least once a year, at the headquarters of the Ministry of National Defence or at the Hellenic Olympic Committee, depending on the case.

• Any other action that will project the cooperation of the parties, regarding the spread and development of the Olympic Values among young people in general, as well as the Greek citizens as a whole.

• Other agencies involved, apart from the Ministry of National Defence and the Hellenic Olympic Committee, regarding the co-organization of the above actions, are the National Olympic Academy and the Secretariat of the Armed Forces Supreme Sports Council.

Upon conclusion of the ceremony, the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Mr. Spyros Kapralos awarded a prize to the Minister of National Defence Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos as an athlete and a Northern Greece swimming champion (1978-1979), a member of the Kavala Marine Association.