The Minister of National Defence, Dimitris Avramopoulos, convoked today a joint meeting of the newly-created Supreme Councils of the three branches of the Armed Forces, as they ensued after the recent evaluations. It is the first time a joint meeting of the Supreme Councils of the three branches took place.
During the address he made Mr. Avramopoulos, after congratulating the Senior Officers for assuming their duties, he pointed out the Prime Minister’s and the Government’s unreserved support to the hard task they are called to carry out, especially amidst the difficult fiscal period our country is experiencing.
Afterwards, the Minister of National Defence referred to the Government’s overall effort for the reformation of our country, while also underlining to the higher personnel of the Armed Forces the priority axes for the Ministry of National Defence, which are to defend our national interests, to contribute to world peace and stability, to upgrade good neighbourly relations and peaceful coexistence, and to enhance the country’s existing alliances but also promote new ones, in accordance with what is stipulated by National Defence Policy.
Mr. Avramopoulos emphasized that Greece ought to expand its role as a stabilising agent in the broader region, through its enhanced participation in International Organisations, since among our participation’s goals is to ensure maximum national interest and to actively participate in co-configuring security provisions within the regional and international environment.
He also encouraged the Senior Officers to be extrovert while exercising their duties, so as to upgrade with their presence the status of Greece and of the Armed Forces.
Mr. Avramopoulos especially highlighted defence diplomacy, adding that the Ministry of National defence’s policy is the Greek flag’s attendance to international peace initiatives for the protection of international rule of law and the principles of the United Nations charter.
He also emphasized the priority to guarantee the Cypriot Hellenism’s security, as well as to guarantee the rights of Greeks everywhere in the world.
Moreover, he stressed the need for togetherness and cooperation among all personnel of the Armed Forces, emphasizing the solution of problems faced by permanent personnel, reserve personnel (conscripts) and personnel in service. He also highlighted the implementation of vertical structure in command, the enhancement of jointness between Forces-Staffs-Operations, and interoperability.
He set essential cooperation between branches as a political priority, through joint operational planning, joint operational training and implementation of joint support and logistics.
Mr. Avramopoulos also emphasized the fact that sectional mentality and hemming of critical issues at departmental level are beyond the sense of both political and military leaderships of the Armed Forces.
He reminded that the country’s defence shielding is a vital and a very costly issue, underlining that all this time great efforts have been made for rational management of the, already reduced, MOD budget. He asked of senior personnel to calculate cost effectiveness at every decision involving it.
Finally, the Minister of National Defence expressed his optimism as far as the future of the Armed Forces is concerned, trusting the leadership’s capability, but also the Greek Armed Forces personnel’s and conscripts’ professionalism and potential.