The effort to highlight the domestic capabilities of the defense industry, especially in high-tech products, was mentioned by the Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias, who participated today, Monday, December 2, in the 4th “OT Forum” of the “Economic Postman” with the central title: “A new Production Model – “Greece 2030”.

Mr. Dendias spoke with journalists Alexandra Fotaki and Eleni Stergiou in the section entitled “Policies and Incentives for the Development of the Defense Industry”.

In particular, Mr. Dendias referring to the creation of EL.K.A.K., the Hellenic Center for Defense Innovation, said that “was built according to the standards of advanced countries to bridge the gap between the needs of the Armed Forces and the capabilities of the Greek ecosystem».

He explained that the Staffs “categorize their needs through a new direction of innovation which was created, they transfer them to EL.K.A.K.” and this poses the question to the ecosystem: “You can give us an answer to this specific need»?

“If an answer is given, the answer is transferred back to the Innovation Directorate and the Staffs, evaluated and if deemed sufficient, the order to create a prototype is givenhe continued.

“The original is checked. If the prototype meets the needs, an order is placedhe added.

Mr. Dendias announced that on December 12 and 13 “the French Minister of Defense is coming to Athens to inaugurate a cooperation conference of the defense innovation ecosystems of Greece and France, with the EL.K.A.K. as the main organizer”.

For equipment, Mr. Dendias clarified “what we can do is to request Greek participation, with a given percentage – when possible – of the order of 15-20%, more and a production installation in Greece, but also the transfer of know-how, where this is possible”.

“For example the program of Belharrawhat we are seeking if we conclude the negotiation with the fourth Belharra is the overall increase of Greek participation in the programhe added.

“In the initial phase this participation was much less than what we would like. Some sections are indeed being made in Greece, but it is not enough, we want more. It makes sense to want morehe pointed out.

He repeated that Greece in order to survive “it is forced to have a sufficient defensive capacity to deter a certain at least aggressive neighbor who threatens us with war. There is a valid casus belli. There is no other country on this planet, not one other country on this planet that exists against the threat of war».

“When I say to defend ourselves, the country must be able to defend itself and alone. We will not be alone if we can stand up for ourselves alonehe added.

Regarding Greece’s participation in the “Shields” operation, he explained that “the dispatch of the Greek frigate to the Red Sea is one of the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East».

“We are in no way part of the conflict in the Middle East. So we cannot accept, either ships of our interests, or ships flying our flag, or ships heading to our ports, to be targeted by anyone for any reason who deems it necessary to extort anyonehe clarified.

For Turkey, Mr. Dendias said: “I am not, was not and have not been convinced that Turkey has abandoned its permanent aspirations. So Turkey formulates, and in fact with an expanding scope, with an increasing scope, its claims against the country. This is the reality.”

“The calm surface, i.e. the non-violations, to a certain extent, of the airspace, the Athens FIR and the non-need to be intercepted by Greek planes has to do with Turkey’s need in the wider picture to appear as a good player in the international arenahe said.

Mr. Dendias stressed that Europe “must have a defense arm”, but explained that it is not at all ready for such a step.

“On the one hand,” he analyzed, the European Union itself says: “We must increase defense spending, we must have a defense arm.”

And he continued, “In fact, a part of the Union” also says “autonomous defense arm”, that is, able to operate independently of NATO.”

“And another part of the European Union tells you, “if you even slightly exceed the budget limit with defense spending, you’re immediately put under surveillance and then we’ll look at whether you had to spend on defense». These two realities do not communicatehe clarified.

He reiterated that the central objective of the ministry is “to build the Armed Forces of 2030».

Responding to Mrs. Fotaki’s question regarding the fact that for the Presidency of the Republic “it seems that an image is being created that you may be the only solution”, Mr. Dendias clarified: “I cannot accept the question either. Woe to the country if I were the only solution for the Presidency of the Republic” and went on to say that on the subject of the Presidency he has already answered twice in the recent past.

“I said what I believe and what I also think about the institution, because I think that the institution is also being damaged. If four, five, six months before the end of the current President’s term, a conversation about his succession begins, which to a large extent does not include him, it does not include it. That is not respect for this institutionconcluded the Minister of National Defense.