SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance welcomed the appointment of the chiefs of Armed Forces staff on Friday and stands by them.
In a statement, the main opposition party said it "supported and supports the officers of the Armed Forces and takes it for granted they were chosen based on merit.
It added, "The main opposition actively stands by the staff - men and women - of the Armed Forces, and come to the aid in every effort to boost the battle-readiness and living condition improvements of personnel."
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis chaired a Government Council for National Security (KYSEA) meeting on Friday at the Maximos Mansion. The meeting focused on the appointment of a new chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff and the new heads of the Hellenic Army General Staff, the Hellenic Navy General Staff and the Hellenic Air Force General Staff.
Former HNDGS chief General Konstantinos Floros was discharged after completing his four-year term and replaced by Lieutenant General Dimitrios Houpis, based on KYSEA's decision.
The prime minister praised Floros' work in the Armed Forces, noting that his contribution was extremely valuable against both conventional and hybrid challenges and in the planning and implementation of the government's programme on the quantitative and qualitative strengthening of the Armed Forces.
The new chiefs are:
- Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff: Lieutenant General Dimitrios Houpis
- Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff: Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis
- Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff: Vice Αdmiral Dimitrios-Evangelos Kataras
- Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff: Lieutenant General Dimosthenis Grigoriadis.
Defence Minister Dendias: Newly appointed Armed Forces leadership will serve Greece's new defense dogma
The new chiefs of staff of the Armed Forces, announced following a Government Council for National Security (KYSEA) on Friday, are being called upon to serve "the government's new approach for national security," National Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said.
A new defense dogma, he added, "will increase the deterrence capabilities for every threat, and will boost our role in the greater region."
The new approach, he explained, consists of three basic pillars for "a national effort for the effective armoring of our homeland against every form of threat, conventional or hybrid."
These are: the complete overhaul of the structure and operation of Armed Forces (into a modern, flexible, and operationally effective form); the armaments systems of the Armed Forces (updating the armaments program, taking into account lessons from Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Middle East, including technologically advanced solutions with a good cost-benefit ratio); and the human resources of the Armed Forces (upgrading members' training on the basis of the Finnish model, retraining at regular intervals on a voluntary basis, improving living conditions for officers).
Included in the second pillar is the founding of the Hellenic Center for Defense Research and Innovation Development, which will fund production of means the Armed Forces have planned while strengthening the Greek defense industry and the country's economy, and collaborating also with the Greek shipping industry.
On behalf of the government, Dendias thanked the outgoing Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros, for his long service, and the chiefs of staff of the Army (Lt General Angelos Hodeloudis), Navy (Vice-Admiral Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras), and Air Force (Air Marshal Dimosthenis Grigoriadis).
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