On Saturday 15 March 2025 Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias attended the departure ceremony of the current Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and former Deputy Minister of National Defence, Giannis Kefalogiannis, and the welcoming ceremony of the new Deputy Minister of National Defence, Thanasis Davakis, which was held at the “Ioannis Kapodistrias” Hall of the Ministry of National Defence.
The ceremony was attended by the Chief/HNDGS General Dimitrios Choupis, the Chief/HAGS Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis, the Chief/HNGS Vice Admiral Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras HN, the Chief/HAFGS Lieutenant General (Pilot) Dimosthenis Grigoriadis, the General Director of the General Directorate for Defence Investments and Armaments, Major General Ioannis Bouras, the General Director of the Financial Planning and Support Directorate of the Ministry of National Defence Rear Admiral (Fin) Panagiotis Stathopoulos (ret.), general and senior officers of the Armed Forces, as well as representatives of the personnel of the three Branches of the Armed Forces.
In his address, the Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, pointed out:
“Today, “we bid farewell”, you will allow me to say in inverted commas, to the hitherto Deputy Minister, Giannis Kefalogiannis. Giannis was chosen by the Prime Minister to assume the position of Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. I would like to say frankly, especially in these circumstances, and with the issues he was facing, his departure is a form of loss.
On the other hand, it is a recognition of the effort he has made in the last two years, and the work which has already been completed. Since, as you know, we are in the process of a great reform, in constant motion, of which effort Giannis was an important part.
Two legal bills, wherein he played a lead role, the bill on the immovable property of the Armed Forces, and the bill concerning healthcare in general, and the healthcare support of the Armed Forces personnel, are ready.
They have gone through the Ministerial Council, but have not been voted by the Hellenic Parliament due to delays of the legislative work. However, they bear the seal of his great effort.
Also, the effort made for the upgrade of Military Academies and the creation of a Military Academies university, the effort being made for the national service, the new national service, and the new era. All these efforts are ones in which Giannis had a great contribution.
His new mission is of great importance. It is a mission of safeguarding the life and property of Greek citizens. We all ought to wish him luck in his new endeavour, to reassure him of the support the Ministry of National Defence will provide to the Ministry where Giannis is heading. I think that the knowledge he has gained here will be an aid in the success of his work, which we must all hope for. I personally want to thank him for the two years of cordial cooperation in the Ministry, and reassure him that we will be at his side to aid him in whatever new duties he assumes.
I also have a great joy today. Our great joy is to welcome Thanasis Davakis here, a colleague at whose side I have marched for many years. Thanasis Davakis is not new at the Ministry of National Defence, he has served at the same post, and he knows matters.
Also, Thanasis was part of the great reform effort. He has hitherto served as Chairman on the Committee on Armament Programmes and Contracts of the Hellenic Parliament, perhaps the most competent Committee for the accomplishment of the work of the Armed Forces, and the completion of the great reform we are effecting. I am sure that with the cordial cooperation we will develop, we will accomplish the targets we have set.
It is a relay race. Giannis Kefalogiannis is relaying the baton of reform to Thanasis Davakis, in movement, full movement. Despite the difficulty this entails, and this is obvious, I think that Thanasis is the suitable person, who knows what we are trying to achieve here, and consequently, to become a factor of reinforcement to this reform effort.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have stated that all, or nearly all in the Ministry of National Defence needs to change, in order for there to remain one, great, timeless, constitutive constant: The capability of the Armed Forces of our Country to effectively serve the safeguarding of our independence, sovereignty, the sovereign rights of our country, the safety of Greek citizens, of each and every Greek.
I am sure that we will soon be able to finally pass all that has been completed through the parliamentary procedure. Particularly, the bills concerning healthcare and immovable property, and the new work, which is almost complete, and concerns national service, the reserves, women’s recruitment, the new pay rate which we have been negotiating with the Ministry of National Economy in the past month.
Also, the new housing programme of the Armed Forces, the new armaments programme which Prime Minister Mitsotakis and I are going to jointly present at the Hellenic Parliament on 2 April, and all the new innovative programmes and innovative approaches which we have created.
We will have opportunities for further discussion, but as I close, I would like to wish the new Minister every success in his new duties, and the Deputy Minister Thanasis Davakis a cordial “welcome to the Ministry of National Defence Thanasis”.
The outgoing former Deputy Minister of National Defence and current Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Giannis Kefalogiannis, emphasised:
“We have achieved much at the Ministry of National Defence in the past two years. I thank Minister Nikolaos Dendias, mainly for his trust, love, and the excellent cooperation in all the preceding period. I have to admit that in 2023 I arrived as a good colleague of his, and I would say that I am leaving as a close friend and partner.
I will begin from the Higher Military Education Institutions, which was previously mentioned. One of the first bills we introduced in Parliament and passed in the first months of our terms here, was the one granting the opportunity for broader research, drafting doctoral dissertations, and simplifying teaching processes.
Also, as the Minister mentioned, the grand reform of the healthcare matters of the Armed Forces was presented to and approved by the Ministerial Council, where we also establish, among others, the economic independence of military hospitals, broaden the Committees of Healthcare Coverage for Armed Forces Personnel and their families, but mainly for the improvement of the partnership with the National Organisation for Health Care Services.
Let me remind you that a Joint IT Corps has been founded, as well as an AI department, aiming at effectiveness in facing modern cybersecurity challenges, while in the meantime the operation of an equivalent department in the Hellenic Military Academy of Combat Support Officers was established.
Another bill mentioned by the Minister, is the matter of the immovable property of the Armed Forces. A grand reform bill, the ultimate goal of which is the utilisation of the immovable property of the Armed Forces for the benefit of the personnel, since it will fund the grand housing programme which aims to build at least 5,000 residencies for our personnel until 2030, and of course, the matter of national service has reached an advanced stage in the process, which, among others will concern the matter of the national guard and the reserve.
All of these months we have stood by society’s side, through the healthcare coverage of tens of structures of civilian hospitals, border regions, rural hospitals, as well as manning tens of positions of ambulance crews, rescuers, and drivers at the National Centre of Direct Help.
Of course, in the meantime, we have created and developed the Construction and Natural Disaster Relief Command, another crucial sector within the Armed Forces.
You will allow me to say, Minister, it is perhaps the second most important pillar of civil protection in the country, of equal importance with the one I am now assuming. I would really like to thank all the personnel who worked to give their best in order to participate in relieving natural disasters in the past months.
I would also like to say that it was mentioned in the framework of the 2030 Agenda. We have proceeded to the New Structure of Forces for the Armed Forces, and a few days hence the Minister will present the new ten year planning for the armaments programmes.
With all this we are setting the foundations, if you may, for the following thirty, if not fifty years of the Armed Forces.
For me, transferring to the Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection is an ultimate honour and challenge.
Our aim is to proceed step by step, through hard work and determination to reinforce the mechanism of our country’s Civil Protection, and the country’s resilience against the challenges of climate change. We ought to demonstrate it daily, in order to make a difference.
I would like to thank Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for renewing his trust in my person, and also for the great honour he does me in entrusting me with the key position of civil protection.
In closing, let me thank the whole of the Military Leadership, the Chief/HNDGS, the Chiefs, and of course, all the personnel, the women and men of the Armed Forces, since they are the main support of the vision we had with the Minister for the “2030 Agenda”, and who have of course designed and effected all necessary steps.
Let me thank my personal assistants and civilian personnel, since they have given their best in these months.
To my friend and partner Thanasis Davakis I wish all the best. I am relieved that my dear friend Thanasis has assumed the post, since he is a person who comes from within the great family of the Armed Forces, insofar as he participates in the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Parliament and in the Committee on Armaments Contracts and Programmes as Chairman. He has served as Deputy Minister of National Defence in the past, and consequently is coming to an already familiar milieu, has the skills, the will, but mainly has the character to receive the baton, as the Minister stated previously.
Closing, I would like to say that I am leaving a great family, the family of the Armed Forces, and I believe that the next steps are definitely going to be to the benefit of the men and women of the Armed Forces.
Thank you very much”.
The new Deputy Minister of National Defence, Thanasis Davakis, stated:
“I am the third to speak, and now I have to say a few words, so I will choose a few words from my heart, not in official, service language.
Initially, I would like to thank the Prime Minister for doing me the honour of returning me to the Ministry of National Defence. A Ministry connected to the history of this country, its development, its glory. Not solely as a Ministry, as the people, as the personnel, as the human resource, which should always be prioritised.
Following, I would like to express my great joy at the favour of fortune, since I am assuming the post from a good friend, Giannis Kefalogiannis, and I am sure that all this web of initiatives he mentioned in his address, some of which have already been passed, and others are on their way to be passed, demonstrates that, under the leadership of Nikos Dendias, a new conception of the direction our Armed Forces are taking in the following 50 years is being developed.
Beyond the boastfulness of politics, this time, I believe that something important is being implemented, something essential, which creates an obligation in us to continue, improve it, develop it, and gain clear results, such as exist already. And I state this as the hitherto Chairman of the Committee on Armaments Contracts.
Dear Giannis, I would like to reassure you by the friendship which connects us, in and out of politics that I will try to continue this relay race, while in movement, in order to achieve clear, essential, and effective results.
I would also like to express my great honour and joy to heretofore be under the orders and directions of, you will allow me the expression, one of the patricians of politics such as Nikos Dendias.
A man whom I appreciate, love, and whom I deem to be a particular blessing to me, since it is important to take over from a person who is a friend of yours, and feel the safety of direction that a politician like Nikos Dendias, a good friend and man of achievement provides you with. A politician who achieves, takes action, and and bring in results.
Dear Minister, I will always be at your service as a simple soldier, so to speak, since we are in your environment of the Ministry of National Defence.
I think that our cooperation under your direction and the construction of the new idea I mentioned concerning the Armed Forces, which have been the pride and the shield of the Hellenic nation throughout time will enable us to be at the cutting edge, and bring forth the changes and the reforms of the “2030 Agenda”, and also more generally enable us to construct this new reality.
I also consider it a great honour to be cooperating with 4 Chiefs. The Chief/HNDGS, Mr. Choupis, the Chief/HAGS, Mr. Kostidis, the Chief/HNGS, Mr. Kataras, and the Chief/HAFGS, Mr. Grigoriadis, who by their experience, and the love they bear their branch, in which they have grown since childhood, will give us the appropriate advice in order to keep the whole matter and context of political initiatives based on reality, and in the broader realistic context which exists within each branch.
Chiefs, as far as I am concerned, I would like you to know and I would like to ask you to treat me as an equal peer, beyond the hierarchy, who will always be at your service, at your side, within the context of my own responsibilities, in order to resolve matters.
This is what I wanted to tell you. Staff officers, I will always be at your service. My door will always be open, in order to resolve problems, as it was during my short term in 2013-2014, and therefore I am particularly moved. Politics seldom gives you strong emotions; it usually gives you bitterness and some other things, which the gentlemen here know, since all three of us are politicians.
Occasionally, however, there are rays of light, joy, and perhaps the justifications of some principles, I would say. Most of all, in this small speech I am called upon to give in the wake of this change of command ceremony, I would like to thank all those, for whom I have existed in politics for more than thirty years. The Laconian citizens, who for 13 consecutive times have renewed their trust in me, by continuing to vote for me. And I want to tell them I will do the best I can. Perform my task in order to have results yet again, as they existed during the political leadership of dear Giannis.
I thank you and remain ever at your service.
Thank you very much”.