By Dora Antoniou

The government’s decision to change the regime for the protection, care and maintenance of the monument of the Unknown Soldier continues to fuel multiple fronts, as it became clear yesterday, there are different “readings” of the amendment tabled in Parliament.

His initiative Nikos Dendias to call the mayor of Athens to a meeting Harry Doukas on the matter of the cleanliness of the space, it was not happily accepted by Maximou. In the amendment submitted to the Parliament there is no clear reference to cleanliness, however Maximos’ sources indicated that “the care of the monument also includes cleaning”.

It is recalled that Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the debate on the amendment in the Parliament, had mentioned that according to the legislation “as it is today” on cleanliness in the area “The Municipality of Athens is responsible and Mr. Doukas is the one who never cleaned the area because he wants to play a political game” to add that “we have a certain perception of space”.

On the part of the Ministry of National Defense, in a statement issued about the meetings held yesterday by Mr. Dendias with Mr. Duke and with the Minister of Citizen Protection, Michael Chrysochoidisit is stated that object “resulted in the best coordination of the legal responsibilities of the Municipality of Athens and the Ministry of Citizen Protection”.

According to information, Mr. Dendias told Mr. Doukas that cleaning is the responsibility of the municipality, with the mayor of Athens responding that he is not prepared to instruct the cleaning service to remove the candles around the names of the victims of Tempi or, much more, to erase the names.

On this wavelength, the mayor of Athens mentioned in his post that “I met today with the Minister of National Defense, Nikos Dendias. During the meeting, I reiterated my familiar positions regarding the Monument to the Unknown Soldier. According to what the Prime Minister stated in the Parliament and based on the amendment that was voted, from today the responsibility of taking care of the Monument and the surrounding area belongs exclusively to the government”, while he ended by wishing them “good luck”.

Information indicates that the Minister of National Defense wanted to act institutionally and approach the issue in soft tones before moving in the direction of the alternative, taking advantage of the possibility provided by the law to hire external cleaning crews.

After the announcement by the municipality of Athens, the Ministry of National Defense came back, stating in a statement that “According to article 102 of the Constitution and according to the law, the exclusive responsibility for cleanliness belongs to the Local Government and in particular to the Monument of the Unknown Soldier belongs to the Municipality of Athens” To continue stating that “After the public statement of the Mayor of Athens that according to him “responsibility for the Monument belongs exclusively to the Government”, the Ministry of National Defense cannot allow the degradation of the area of ​​memory and honor of those who fought for the Nation and the Homeland.

Therefore, it will proceed to entrust the cleaning of the space to a third party, for as long as required.

As the Minister of National Defense, Nikos Dendias, has pointed out in his recent statement, respect for the dead of the National Games and for History is a collective duty and responsibility of all of us”.

However, yesterday’s manipulations appeared to cause discomfort in the Maximos Palace and keep active a front that earlier the government spokesman, Pavlos Marinakishad sought to close. In response to a related question, he stated that “There is no question. There is no problem”while he added in relation to the monument and what is to come “in the short term and in the future, the Police, with its professionalism and efficiency, should shield, guard, ensure the implementation of this specific amendment, which is a law of the State, and in the medium and long term, the Ministry of National Defense should highlight, in accordance with its proposals and ideas, this sacred Monument”.