Greek PM appoints new security and intelligence chiefs

Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday announced the appointment of a National Security Advisor and a new Commander of the Greek Intelligence Service.

According to an announcement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the appointment decisions came in view of the fact that the country should "fully respond to the current challenges and new threats”.

Firstly, there is a new post, of the National Security Adviser in the Office of the Prime Minister, a post taken on by Admiral Alexandros Diakopoulos and secondly the appointment of Panagiotis Kontoleon as the new Commander of the Greek Intelligence Service (EYP).

The government is streamlining EYP so as to better tackle traditional threats, but also new dangers, such as cyber warfare, as well as the interrelationship between terrorist and criminal activity at a global level with geopolitical implications, reads the Maximos Mansion press office release.

In this context, EYP is also being strengthened by three deputy commanders, "to broaden its organisational and operational horizons," and these are:

Vasileios Grizis, served as director of the Centre for Security Studies (KEMEA) for 7 years, and will have operational responsibilities.

Dionisis Melitsiotis is a lecturer at the University of Western Attica, and will be responsible for organizational matters.

Anastasios Mitsialis has represented New Democracy in the National Council on Foreign Policy since 2016, and will be in charge of EYP's international relations.