The Minister of National Defense Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, represented the Government in the parade for the National Anniversary of October 28, 1940, which took place in Thessaloniki in the presence of A.E. of the President of the Hellenic Republic Mr. Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

The parade was attended by the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Cyprus Mr. Charalambos Petridis, the Chief GEETHA General Konstantinos Florosthe GEEF Chief Lieutenant General Democritos Zervakisthe General Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mr. Antonios Oikonomouthe Chief GES Lieutenant General Charalambos Lalousisthe Chief General Vice Admiral Stylianos Petrakis PN and the Chief of the General Staff Vice Admiral (I) Themistocles Bourolias. Also present was the US Ambassador Mr. George James Tsunis and His Holiness the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Mr. Blooming.

After the end of the parade, the Minister of National Defense made the following statement:

“Today we are celebrating with splendor here from Thessaloniki the anniversary of October 28, 1940, the Epic of ’40. A little while ago we boasted the sections of both the political and the military parade.

We felt the morale, the attitude. We saw the performance of those who participated. We felt proud of them. And we remember exactly this Epic of the 1940s, when Greece defeated a theoretically superior enemy, an arrogant and totalitarian regime that did not consider – and that is why it crashed in the mountains of Pindos – that the country had a high national spirit that it ran from one end to the other throughout the Territory, all the people, had a solid leadership and had strong, well-prepared and ready to fight and defeat Armed Forces.

In today’s era, the challenges we face are complex, complex, possibly different from what we have faced in the past, successive and parallel crises. But we will face them and overcome them, inspired by the example of the heroes of the 40s, their sacrifice and the sense of duty to defend our national sovereignty and homeland. And today we will continue to fight for a stronger Greece, for a Greece that stands tall, for a Greece that respects but also demands the respect of others, for a Greece that feels confident and secure despite the problems and challenges, because it has -among others- and strong and deterrent Armed Forces.

Happy birthday Greece!

Long live the 40’s Epic!

Cheer for the nation!”.