“We are a very strong country in the region. We are very attractive, friends and allies to those who want to be with us – and there are many of them – while we will always be feared by those who wish our country harm. And we will never allow that.” This was stated by the Chief of the General Staff of National Defense Konstantinos Floros in the context of the 8th Delphi Economic Forum, which takes place in Delphi April 26-29 and is under the auspices of the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and added that: “We are so strong that no one would think of doing this.”

According to Mr. Floros: “Over the last four years, the Armed Forces had to give their best in order to instill in Greek society and the Greek people the sense of absolute security, national security from external dangers, national independence and of the territorial integrity of the country”.

As he explained: “During this period the crises we faced were much more intense and lasted longer than any other time.”

As far as Turkey is concerned, the GEETHA leader estimated that “at this stage a recession may be observed, but this will not happen forever”. As he said, “especially after the earthquakes, the challenges have been reduced to zero both on land and at sea, but in the international FORAs we meet, what we hear are the same, the claims are the same, and recently, and due to the election campaign, we see the familiar maps again ».

“The threat we face at the national level is one, it is clear, we know it, we know how to deal with it as we dealt with it during the hybrid ‘war’ of March 2020”, said Mr. Floros when “we imposed our will on Turkey”. He made it clear that “the Greek Armed Forces were and will be able to ensure the good of national security against external threats and the national independence, territorial integrity and ultimately the freedom of the Greeks”.

Analyzing the operation in Sudan, Mr. Floros gave credit to those who participated and pointed out that “in these operations, professionalism, knowledge, trust are required. Thanks to detailed and professional planning and good cooperation the business developed perfectly. The capabilities of the Armed Forces gained added value both in terms of our own self-confidence and also in terms of what foreigners think of us.”

As Mr. Floros said: “On the occasion of the operation in Sudan and after the reorganization, now the Greek Armed Forces have entered a new era where they can plan, execute in a way that can bring results that contribute to the promotion of our flag and the projection of Greece’s power beyond its borders”.

Regarding the country’s armaments program, the head of the Greek Armed Forces stressed that: “Greece is an island of stability and security in the region. As far as our military capabilities are concerned, the armament program we have drawn up has a medium-long-term plan, in order to prepare the material and be able to receive it.”

Speaking about military diplomacy, he pointed out that we have managed to develop an excellent level, as we have excellent relations with countries in our region, such as Egypt which was also chosen for the operation in Sudan, while our relations are also excellent with the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia. Our relations with Israel are at an all-time high, the tripartite alliances “Greece, Cyprus, Israel”, “Greece, Cyprus, Egypt” and “Greece, Cyprus, Jordan” are also working perfectly, while very strong it is the relations that have developed with France and the USA, but even with India.

Mr. Floros analyzed the foci of instability in the region and in particular Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, and of course Sudan, while he expressed his concern regarding the war in Ukraine as he said: “There is a large-scale war and Greece has taken a specific position and it affects other states as well as Greece”.

“Greece is geopolitically in a center with many crises. The periphery of the states is now larger, events are running and the interactions are terrible both in speed and intensity”, he said characteristically and added that: “Greece in this unstable geopolitical environment must ensure its national and sovereign rights against of its sovereign rights”.

Mr. Floros made a special reference to the Crete naval station in Souda, as he said “the infrastructures are not independent of what we want to do”, and he spoke of strengthening Crete on land, in the air and at sea with the aim of the island to become a gathering place of important forces.

“Our task is to strengthen the national defense of the country” repeated Mr. Floros while he pointed out the emphasis placed on cyber defense, as the GEETHA established a space management two years ago, in order to acquire a space management in the future.

The debate was moderated by SKAI journalist Stavros Ioannidis.