The event for “Women’s Day”, organized by the General Staff of National Defence, was attended today by the Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, who awarded women officers, non-commissioned officers, students, and students of productive schools. Moving one step further, “in the “Agenda 2030″, a comprehensive approach to the reform of our country’s Armed Forces, which includes as part of it the voluntary enlistment of women”, the Minister of National Defence announced, stating that “I look forward to this because it will give us access to a very important human capital, not only in terms of numbers, not only to cover the huge gap that separates us in terms of population from the country that threatens us, but also in terms of quality”.

The event was also attended by the Deputy Minister of National Defence Yannis Kefalogiannis, the Chief of the General Staff General Dimitrios Houpis, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff as the representative of the Chief of the General Staff, the Chief of General Staff Vice Admiral Demetrios – Eleftherios Kataras PN and the Chief of General Staff Vice Admiral (I) Demosthenes Grigoriadis, women officers and non-commissioned officers of the Armed Forces, as well as delegations of female students of the productive schools of the Armed Forces.

The event was graced with the presence of the distinguished actress Katia Dandoulaki and the Paralympic Taekwondo (Tae Kwon Do) champion Elena Papastamatopoulou, who spoke about the role of women in art and sport, respectively.

In detail, the greeting of Mr. Dendias:

The Minister of National Defence noted in his address:

The President of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Dedens, said in his speech that he would like to thank the President of the Republic of Moldova for his commitment.
“Ladies and gentlemen,

We are here today to commemorate Women’s Day. As the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces said before, the pillar, the cornerstone of the foundation of Greek society is the Greek family.

I always say that without the Greek family, the way it functions, the ties between it, the country would not have overcome the ten-year crisis, 2010-2019. We would not have survived. We would have lost 30% of our Gross National Product (GNP). This is usually the result of war as a percentage. We survived because the Greek family supported its members. And, of course, the mother in a family is the center. She holds the family together.

Women are struggling every day, demanding equal treatment in every area of their lives, social and professional. They demand the same in the Armed Forces of our country. A particularly demanding working environment, I must say and acknowledge, but one in which they excel and in which we have an enviable participation rate. You said it before, Madam Colleague – I refer to the legal status 17.5%. It is enviable. It does not mean that we cannot go further. But if we look at what other countries have achieved, many perhaps more advanced than us, we can be satisfied with that. We will do better so that we can be proud.

But in addition to honoring the women who have distinguished themselves professionally in our Armed Forces, as Commissioned Officers, as NCOs, as Officers, we do not forget, I open brackets, our civilian personnel.

I want to tell you something that for me is one of the ultimate goals of being in this Department. I am referring to Agenda 2030, a comprehensive approach to reforming our Nation’s Armed Forces, but one that includes as part of it the voluntary enlistment of women. Something that was foreseen many years ago by Law 705/1977 but has not been implemented to date.

And I must tell you that I look forward to this because it will give us access to a very important human capital, not only in terms of numbers, not only to cover the huge gap that separates us in terms of population from the country that threatens us, but also in terms of quality. It will give us access to a brilliant part of today’s Greek reality.

Beyond that, I would like to tell you that it also contributes to something else. We, here in Greece, from ancient times, from the very ancient times, we do not believe in the mercenary army.

We believe in the civilian army, commanded by worthy professional officers who also come from society. The Athenian Phalanx faction, the shield of one covering the other. The citizen defends the Homeland, defends the Republic.

The citizen defends the defense of the country.
Beyond that, I would like to address the ladies attending today’s ceremony. I would like to thank them warmly. Thank you for standing with us as wives, as colleagues, as mothers, and as protagonists in our lives. I look forward to continuing to work together for a world in which dignity and respect will be the founding principles. I wish you love and happiness always.

Thank you very much.”