In a ceremony held yesterday at the Ministry of National Defence, the new Deputy Minister of National Defence Yannis Lampropoulos assumed office from the outgoing Deputy Minister Thanasis Davakis.
The Minister of National Defence Dimitris Avramopoulos and the outgoing Deputy Minister addressed the following statements.
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: As you may realise I am in a difficult and pleasant position because when a change of officials takes place, emotions are mixed.
Things are even more touching here, at the Ministry of National Defence – and I am saying this on behalf of the military and political leadership – because on the one hand we say goodbye to an excellent colleague and statesman who offered particularly useful services to both our country and its defence system.
And, on the other hand, we are welcoming a person that comes back to this place. Because, as I may imagine, Yannis, this is your feeling at this time and you are already among persons who are familiar to you and in a familiar and friendly ambiance.
But, we said in the beginning that this change of office has special characteristics because it really gets closer to each other – this is what I believe – two colleagues; two friends who have been for almost 20 years and still are together in the Hellenic Parliament, from neighbouring electoral districts and who come across each other as neighbours every day and who have shared common struggles and efforts in the name of their mission.
Today, they come across each other not only at the stairs of the Ministry of National Defence but also in these offices, because I am certain that this change of office will be accompanied by an exchange of views, experiences, mutual advice, so that when time comes for them to leave the best memories of this behind, they will have even stronger friendship between them.
You know also from your experience over all these years that if policy is attractive for something is that you never know what the next day will bring and you get psychologically prepared for that.
However, at the end, you have lived a beautiful experience and if you have managed to leave a useful work behind you, people will remember you and say goodbye to you with respect and esteem. And it is this, dear Thanassis, my friend, Minister, is what accompanies you today: esteem, respect, love and acknowledgement of a useful work in the total effort of our entire political leadership.
I, personally, as well as the Alternate Minister, Mrs. Gennimata – you should know that – we feel great respect for you over all this time. And the circumstances under which we have been called and are still called to perform our duties were not easy.
You were an important, useful pillar for this cooperation and a factor that helped to promote all these issues which we handled together, as well as many of the ones you personally assumed to accomplish and you did it successfully.
On the other side, we welcome the former Deputy Minister of National Defence, our friend, Yannis Lampropoulos who comes back with willingness, enthusiasm and with his ambition to offer his useful work over this period.
We welcome him to the big company of political and military leadership with respect for his course in public affairs so far and we assure him that we will help him at this first time because many things have changed since the last time he served here as Deputy Minister of National Defence so that he will join this group quickly and experience the beautiful moment of achieving the results we committed ourselves to achieve in the name of our common mission and under particularly difficult circumstance, as I already said.
Both of you, incoming and outgoing, apart from our colleague feelings in policy and in the Hellenic Parliament, enjoy also the respect of the military leadership.
You will find in them excellent co-operators who will help you, Yannis, in your work. But also you, my dear Thanasis, who will be accompanied soon with honour and recognition.
Wherever one may be found, either in the Parliament or in the government, he is effective and contributes to this collective national effort.
I have therefore a cordial welcoming and a cordial goodbye wishing that from now on we all have health, inspiration and a common attachment to an only objective: to be useful for our country and of course for our national defence system which, in its turn, – despite the adversities – though it goes through difficult moments, it keeps the flag of duty and honour proudly high.
Thank you and I wish you all the best, above all, in your lives and a special cordial greeting from all of us to your families who every day share with you the hope, sometimes the sorrow, but, mostly, they share the great and noble feeling of serving our country.
Thank you very much and I wish you all the best from my heart.
T. DAVAKIS: Mr. Minister, Mrs. Alternate Minister, dear colleague, Mr. Deputy Minister, Chiefs, Mr. General Director of Defence Armements and Investments, ladies and gentlemen, I feel greatly touched and glad, and I really mean glad, because at this moment of goodbye, as Minister described it shortly before, I am surrounded by love as I feel it, esteem and honour with regards to the office I served for almost a year.
A year ago, following a decision by the Prime Minister, Mr. Antonis Samaras, I had the great honour to assume the political responsibility of the Deputy Minister of National Defence. Today, Mr. Prime Minister decided that he must replace me.
Although my sorrow is deep, I respect, as it is normal, this decision of the prime Minister, a decision similar to the one that did me the honour to appoint me as Deputy Minister exactly one year ago.
This personal moment however cannot overshadow all these essential things that were achieved over this year, facts and things which I believe brought a result as far as my responsibilities are concerned.
Above all, however, I feel great pleasure and honour because I cooperated with a man like the Minister of National Defence, Dimitris Avramopoulos, who every day promotes the notion of – please, allow me to say it this way – “fair policy”, just like “fair play”; to be honest this is something I realized by myself, unfortunately the Parliament does not bring us so close as the Ministries after all.
He shows the levels of exercising policy, how a politician must be and think that it on this point he agreed with our excellent colleague, Mrs. Fofi Gennimata who was also guided to the same direction as far as the results of her responsibilities and actions are concerned.
It is a great sorrow for me to leave this Ministry. It was the first time after 20 years of parliamentary activity that I had the honour to take office as Deputy Minister.
But my sorrow is great also because this place, this Ministry, Mr. Minister, is not any Ministry. It is the place that supports the glory and pride of the Greek nation; it is the place that became the boast and shield of the Greek people.
And I believe that such feelings would be normal and evident for everybody who has had the honour to serve this place.
I would like, finally, to welcome my dear friend and colleague, who comes from almost the district place as I since, as it has been aptly said, Messinia was lucky enough to neighbour on Lakonia. As you also say that Lakonians are lucky to neighbour on Messinia.
We gave many political battles with Yannis Lampropoulos for the requests and rights of our citizens at all levels. And I am sure about the purity, morality and genuineness of his character.
And I would say, Minister, that my great sorrow is mitigated by the fact that it is Yannis Lampropoulos who takes office, for his second time in this position, and succeeds me.
Frankly, Yannis, I was anxious yesterday to know who would be my successor to this position but this anxiety was alleviated when I heard your name yesterday afternoon.
I would like to thank you once more. I wish to keep in my special thoughts and memories the great cooperation, the excellent cooperation I had with the Chiefs, with the outgoing Chief Thanasis Tselios and with the current Chiefs, the Chief of HAGS H. Manolas, the Chief of HAFGS E. Tournas and the Chief of HNGS E. Apostolakis.
It is a great honour for me to have cooperated with you. I don’t think that you will have many complains about me. I did my best, everything that was possible in a security framework which was drawn by the presence of the Minister and I believe Yannis Lampropoulos will also find this framework in order to walk in safe steps while performing his duties.
I would like to thank you once more. In the end, I can bring in my mind all people whom I met in this year, travelling throughout the Greek land, in outposts, formations, in everything that constituted the notion of our national defence. In my mind I greet them, I will not tell them goodbye, but I greet them and tell them that my mind will be close to them at any time, I tell them that we will fight to overcome the difficulties; and they will be overcome for them and I tell them that it was a great honour I worked with them and to a certain extent I was their political leader.
I am referring to all these men and women of our Armed Forces who are in aircraft, in vessels, on the frontiers and on the islands and perform their duties having as only criterion to defend our country and our national independence.
I thank you again; it was a special honour for me to be a member of the family of the Armed Forces over this period of time.
Thank you very much.