ATHENS – Thanos Plevris, a right-wing MP from Greece’s ruling New Democracy party, has defended Navy cadets who chanted nationalist slogans, including “Cyprus is Greek,” during Tuesday’s Independence Day parade. The incident, involving trainees from the Navy’s non-commissioned officers’ school, drew criticism from Turkey and prompted a Greek investigation.
Speaking on Skai TV, Plevris downplayed the controversy, arguing that such slogans are part of combat training and fitting for a day marking Greece’s liberation from Ottoman rule. “These are sailors I’d want on a Belharra frigate—not singing ‘My Little Pony,’” he quipped, rejecting calls to punish the cadets. He also slammed Turkey’s Blue Homeland doctrine and its hold on northern Cyprus.
The government condemned the chants, with a source telling Kathimerini, “Strength isn’t shown through slogans.” Plevris, a former health minister, joined New Democracy in 2012 after serving with a smaller populist party.