On Wednesday, 25 September 2024, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias, accompanied by the Chief HNDGS, General Dimitrios Choupis, represented the Government in the events for the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Kythira.
The Minister attended the Doxology at the Church of Estavromenos in Kythira, officiated by His Eminence the Metropolitan of Kythira and Antikythira Serafeim and His Eminence the Metropolitan of Samos, Ikaria, and Korsei Efsevios. Next, he went to the Liberation Memorial of Kapsali Port and laid a wreath after the memorial service.
The events were also attended by MP Nikolaos Vlahakos, representing the Hellenic Parliament, MP Konstantinos Katsafados, the Deputy Head of Region for the Islands of the Attica Region Ioannis Voutsinas, the Mayor of Kythira Efstratios Charhalakis, the Commander of the Aegean Naval Command, Captain Dimitrios Gounaris HN, the President of Domestic Property of Kythira and Antikythira, Lieutenant General Evangelos Vernardos (ret.), representatives of the Security Forces and local authorities, as well as civilians.
During his address at the Liberation Memorial of Kapsali Port, Mr. Dendias pointed out the following:
“It is a great pleasure and honour to be here today at Kythira, to honour the 80 years since their liberation.
On 4 September 1944 – as the Mayor pointed out – the German forces abandoned the island. Stories of glory had been written by the forces of National Resistance at the villages of Kythira and on 25 September the Minister for Reconstruction of the National Unity Government Panagiotis Kanellopoulos arrived here, as well as the Destroyer “THEMISTOKLIS” with the Sacred Company, thus sealing the liberation of Kythira.
For me Kythira, although it is the first time I visit the island, gives me a sense of familiarity, I guess due to my place of origin.
Mr. Mayor, you referred to the past and the history and you insinuated the present and the future. Kythira is at a spot where the Ionian Sea, the Aegean, and the Cretan Sea meet. It is an extremely strategic spot for Greece, an extremely strategic spot for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Control of the broader sea area and the passages here ensures to a great extend control of the Eastern Mediterranean. The Battle of Cape Matapan between the English and the Italian Navy during WWII sealed the dominance of the English in the broader region, for this to be reversed – as you said – by the use of the German aviation, when German forces moved south.
But let’s come to the present. I would like to say that along with the Chief HNDGS, we have a fixed policy: to visit the small islands, not because we assume that our presence honors the inhabitants, but rather the opposite; the contact with them honours us, projecting the steadfast will of the Hellenic Republic to have an active presence in our small islands; because these islands are the main element of securing our sovereignty and sovereign rights.
Let us not have delusions ladies and gentlemen. Without sovereignty and sovereign rights in our seas, Greece as a merely continental country cannot exist. It does not correspond to its History and genetic material.
So, we are here to indicate the self-evident: the absolute disposition to ensure within our abilities the preservation of a strong and thriving Greek population on our small islands and, of course, through them, and in accordance with International Law and the Law of the Sea, to secure our sovereignty and sovereign rights. Something that does not constitute a policy choice of the Mitsotakis Government, it has always been the fulfillment of our self-evident constitutional duty followed by all Greek Governments – including the Government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whom I represent here today.
Concluding, I would also like to say that it is a great honor that I had the chance to shake the hand of Mr. Daponte, a survivor of this historic moment (the liberation of Kythira). I did not expect that I would be so lucky coming here. Mr. Mayor, I would like to add a few things. Of course, as you correctly said, the political discussion is now conducted mostly as a discussion of ideas, not of weapons. Politicians are not sent to exile anymore. When the Greek people judges that they are not of use, they send them home and do the right thing. If there was a chance, which I do not wish for, to ever be sent to exile, allow me to tell you that I would ask to be sent to Kythira!
Thank you”.
In the context of the events, Mr. Dendias attended the presentation of a commemorative plaque by the Mayor of Kythira to the 101 years old member of the Resistance Emmanouil Daponte and a concert by the pianist Alexandros Kyriakopoulos.
The Minister of National Defence also visited the Guided Missile Fast Patrol Vessel “DEGIANNIS” at anchor in Kythira and completed his visit with a visit and a tour at the Panagia Myrtidiotissa Sanctuary.