In the presence of former President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos, former Prime Ministers and Presidents of ND, Antonis Samaras and Kostas Karamanlis, the President of the Parliament, Nikitas Kaklamanis, ministers, MEPs, numerous MPs from across the political spectrum and representatives of the business community, the unveiling of the Ark of National Memory of Kostas Varotsos at the Greek Pentagon took place, which also gave an intra-party dimension to the event.

“We seek, with the possibilities of contemporary art, the integration of the paradigm of self-sacrifice,” said Mr. Dendias and added that “collective identity has strong elements” that make it distinct. In this direction, the Minister of National Defense listed the homeland, religion, traditions, family and language as the identifying elements of New Greece, also pointing out that progress and preservation are not opposed to each other, but constitute the two aspects of Hellenism.

For his part, Kostas Varotsos, who has undertaken the entire renovation of the Ministry of National Defense premises, recalled that “only the flag has the right to pride”, recalling the phrase of Stavros Xarhakos, while noting that one is left humble upon leaving the labyrinth of the monument.

The entire military leadership, businessmen Mariana Latsi, Vangelis Mytilineos, as well as politicians from ND, PASOK and SYRIZA were present: Among others, there were Eliza Vosenberg, Dimitris Kairidis, Notis Mitarakis, Yannis Kefalogiannis, Irini Agapidaki, Olga Kefalogianni, George Vlachos, Paris Koukoulopoulos, Costas Bouras, Petros Pappas, Panos Rigas, Thodoros Karaoglou, Petros Pappas, Panos Rigas and Michalis Katrinis.

With donations

The Ark of National Memory is part of the overall renovation of the appearance and surrounding area of ​​the Ministry of National Defense, which includes the new bioclimatic facade (donation of Mr. Evangelos Mytilineos), the Cybersecurity building under construction (donation of Mr. Thanasis Laskaridis) and the new entrance and guest area, which has already been completed (donation of Mr. Georgios Peristeris/GEK TERNA).

The Ark of National Memory is framed by 2 groves with 25 and 28 olive trees, symbolizing March 25, 1821 and October 28, 1940 respectively. In addition, the program of planting 400 trees at the Papagou Camp is underway, symbolizing the 400 years of Ottoman rule, which will also constitute a green lung for the area.

Also, the design of an underground garage with 1,232 spaces has begun, which will offer the possibility of utilizing the above-ground space as additional green space.