National Defense Minister Nikos Dendias celebrated the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, patron of the Greek Armed Forces, on the island of Tinos on Thursday.
It was also the anniversary of the day an Italian submarine torpedoed the Greek cruiser ‘Elli’ as she rode at anchor, leading it its sinking on August 15, 1940 and the death of 9 seamen.
“But the Armed Forces do not remain in the memories of the past, the honor of our dead. They reform. Every day our homeland becomes stronger, more powerful, to protect its interest in the framework of International Law and International Law of the Sea. And here, in the midst of the Aegean Sea that we are, it would be good to remember this,” Dendias, who is representing the prime minister, said.
“In the context of ‘Agenda 2030’, the Armed Forces, the Air Force, the Navy, the Army are creating a new reality. We are becoming the strongest Armed Forces Greece ever had in its long history. Already, in a few days, in mid-September, September 19, the second ‘Belharra’ frigate, the state-of-the-art ship of its kind on the planet and our first frigate, will be launched at sea,” the defense minister underlined.
As every year, Dendias attended a memorial service for the victims of ‘Elli’s’ torpedoing, and the liturgy for the feast of the Virgin Mary.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
