The Deputy Minister of National Defence Nikolaos Hardalias Attends the Celebrations in Honour of the Navy’s Patron Saint at the Athens Concert Hall

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The Deputy Minister of National Defence Nikolaos Hardalias Attends the Celebrations in Honour of the Navy's Patron Saint at the Athens Concert Hall

December 5, 2022

On Sunday, 4 December 2022, the Deputy Minister of National Defence Mr Nikolaos Hardalias, representing the President of the Hellenic Government, attended the event organised by the Hellenic Navy General Staff at the Athens Concert Hall, in order to honour its members and their families, in the context of the celebration of the Patron Saint of the navy personnel, Aghios Nikolaos and the 110^thanniversary of the victorious sea battles of the 1912-13 Balkan Wars.

The Deputy Minister of National Defence, in the context of the event, awarded a member of the Navy Submarines Command, for his 19-year and more nonstop service at the Submarines, awarding an honorary plate, whereas in his address he pointed out the following:

"It is a great honour and joy to be here today, among you, before you. To be here honouring the history, the sacrifices, the legacies of glorious times, glorious men, of our Navy's glorious history, the Saint and Patron of which, Aghios Nikolaos, we celebrate today, in a double celebration that symbolises the strong bond between Orthodoxy and the Armed Forces and at the same time it projects the everlasting coupling of the two cornerstones of Hellenism, Homeland and Religion.

The relation of our navy personnel with Aghios Nikolaos constitutes a profound and long experience, connecting human nature with the divine and gets embodied in the holy figure of the Saint, that adorns every small and every big floating vessel at the world's seas. It is that august, respectful figure dominating at every stem, a steady watchman in the mast and calm steersman, in times of dead calm and in times of rough seas, a holy picture to which the thought of every traveller seaman is turning with holiness and deep faith, asking protection, asking guidance.

This day, every Greek recalls memories of national uplift and pride, arising from the glorious naval epic of the Country through the centuries. A naval history that proves the absolute domination and the strong bonds of Hellenism with the sea, in a region with special geostrategic importance, being at the crossroad of three continents, which was the field of navy battles for thousands of years, which marked both the Greek and the global history.

The events in the long-lasting historic heritage of Hellenism were many, ensuring "in practice" the absolute naval domination of the Nation and are cleverly expressed through Pericles' motto "Great is the might of the sea".

From the Battle of Salamis in antiquity and the triumph of the Greek galleys against the Persians, to the following domination of the war dromons during the Byzantine Empire. But also during the struggle of Rebirth, when the strong commercial fleet transformed into war squadrons, defeating the Turkish armadas, greatly contributing to the evolution of our national struggle for freedom.

During modern historic times, the most important were the victorious sea battles of our fleet, of "ELLI" and "LIMNOS", which, under the inspired guidance of Admiral Koudouriotis and with the famous battle ship "AVEROF" dominating the sea, played a decisive role in the favourable for our country outcome of the Balkan Wars, forever and irrevocably guarantying the Greek sovereignty at the Aegean Sea.

Our Navy, during its whole long-lasting history, was always actively present, it struggled strongly for the high ideals of Hellenism, the ideals of Freedom, Democracy and Justice and honoured with consistency the naval traditions of the country, leaving its indelible seal regarding the survival and the final domination of our Nation as well.

Today, it remains in the sea battlements, vigilant guardian of the Country's honour and dignity, constituting the basic factor of the naval war power, and the main means of expressing the traditional naval identity and culture of the Greeks.

The Ministry of National Defence and the whole Government, fully realising the importance of the existence of a modern and strong Navy, make every possible effort to further upgrade it, with the continuous support and upgrade of the Units, systems and its infrastructure, implementing an ambitious, holistic armaments programme, that consists of the procurement of modern ships and weapon systems of cutting-edge technology, that will add unique capabilities to our Navy in the next years, making it dominate the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. I can assure you that we have still a long road ahead, with important armaments programmes on the way, being prepared, being in progress.

However, an undisputable force multiplier for our Navy is without a doubt its personnel, the men and women OFFICERS and NCOs, the Sailors and the Civilian Personnel, who patiently contribute and always successfully manage to maintain the combativeness of the Fleet at a high level. A manpower, which proves in every action that the naval tradition and pride are through time the only driving force, which is capable of achieving everyday "miracles" at all levels, confirming that no matter what the current technology is, it tries to impose its domination, the final judge of success will always be humans and their tireless will to defend values, principles, ideals.

I would like to conclude this short address of mine, with the known motto of Themistocles to the Spartan Admiral Eurybiades: "We have land and homeland when we have ships at sea!" Words that sound timely and true in today's reality.

Many happy returnsto everyone. Thank you".

The event was attended by the Reverend Archimandrite Varnavas Theoharis,representing his Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, the Ministers for Migration and Asylum Mr Panagiotis Mitarakis and for Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Mr Giannis Plakiotakis, the Deputy Ministers of Development and Investments Mr Giannis Tsakiris, of Labour and Social Affairs Ms Domna Mihailidou, of Citizen Protection Mr Lefteris Oikonomou, of Tourism Ms Sofia Zaharaki and of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, HAFGS/Honorary Chief General (ret.) Evangelos Tournas, the MPs Mr Dionysios Hatzidakis (B3 Athens South Constituency), Olga Kefalogianni (A Athens Constituency), Andreas Koutsoumbas (Voiotia Constituency), Spyridonas-Panagiotis Livanos (Aitolia and Acarnania Constituency), Stefanos Gikas (Corfu Constituency), Theodoros Dritsas (A Piraeus Constituency) and Konstantinos Bogdanos (A Athens Constituency), the former Commissioner for Migration, Internal Affairs and Citizenship of the EU Mr Dimitrios Avramopoulos and HNDGS/Chief General Konstantinos Floros, HAGS/Chief Lieutenant General Charalambos Lalousis, HNGS/Chief Vice Admiral Stylianos Petrakis and HAFGS/Chief Lieutenant General Themistoklis Bourolias.

The event was also attended by the President of the Supreme Court Ms Maria Georgiou, the Hellenic Police/Chief Lieutenant General Konstantinos Skoumas, the Hellenic Fire Department/Chief Lieutenant General Alexios Rapanos and the Hellenic Port Authority - Coastguard Vice Admiral Georgios Alexandrakis, the Ambassador of France in Greece Mr Patrick Maisonnave, the former Minister of Defence and honorary HNDGS/Chief Admiral (ret.) Evangelos Apostolakis, the Secretary General of Culture at the Ministry of Culture and Sports Mr Georgios Didaskalou, the head of the PASOK-KINAL Defence Sector Mr Georgios Petalotis, as well as HNGS Officers, NCOs and Civilians delegations.