The graduation ceremony of the students of the 75th Class of the National Defence School took place at the Hellenic Armed Forces Officers Club on Friday, April 21, 2023. The ceremony was held in the presence of the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Mr. Nikolaos Hardalias, on behalf of President Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS), General Konstantinos Floros.

According to a relevant announcement of the HNDGS, the ceremony was honoured by the presence of:

• The Member of Parliament B1 Constituency (North) of Athens and former Deputy Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Mr. George Koumoutsakos, on behalf of the President of the Hellenic Parliament, Mr. Konstantinos Tassoulas.
• The Director of the Corps of Army Chaplains, Brigadier His Holiness Archimandrite Meletios Kouraklis, on behalf of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Mr. Ieronymos.
• The 1st Member of Parliament of Piraeus, Mr. Theodoros P. Dritsas, on behalf of the Leader of the Major Opposition, Mr. Alexis Tsipras.
• The Member of Parliament B1 Constituency (North) of Athens, Mr. Athanasios Spyridonos Pafilis, on behalf of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of KKE, Mr. Dimitrios Koutsoumbas.
• The Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Greece, Mr. Omar Amer Youssef, and the Ambassador of Skopje in Greece, Mrs. Lidija Boshkovska.
• The Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff, Air Marshal Themistoklis Bourolias, the Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Angelos Houdeloudis, and the Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Ioannis Drymusis, the Chief of the Hellenic Police, Lieutenant General Lazaros Mavropoulos, and the Chief of the Hellenic Coast Guard, Vice Admiral George Alexandrakis.
• The Commander of the Special Warfare Command of the HNDGS, Lieutenant General Dimitrios Houpis, the Commander of the Supreme Military Command of the Interior and Islands (ASDEN), Lieutenant General Sotirios Kostakoglou, and the Commander of the National Defence School, Lieutenant General Spyridon Alfantakis.
• The Consul of the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Greece, Mr. Neophytos Constantinou, on behalf of the Ambassador, Mr. Kyriakos Kenevezos.

• The Director General of the National Defence Policy and International Relations Directorate of the Ministry of National Defence, Dr. Konstantinos Pan. Balomenos.
• The Commander of the Fire Academy, Major General Dimitrios Kalianotis, on behalf of the Chief of the Fire Service, Lieutenant General Georgios Pournaras.
• The Director of the Personnel Branch of the HNDGS, Rear Admiral Ioannis Pattas, and the Commander of the Supreme Joint War School, Air Vice Marshal Alexandros Kefalas.
• The Defence Attaché of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Brigadier Ayman Alian Mahmoud.
• The Commander of the Naval War School, Captain Prokopios Charitos, and the Commander of the School of Nursing Officers, Group Captain Kyriaki Pelekis.
• Active-duty and retired Officers as well as the students’ relatives.
• The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of National Defence Staff, Lieutenant General (ret.) Spyridon Belegrates.
• Professors of the National Defence School.

A total of 60 students graduated, as below:

• Hellenic Forces: 47 Officers (34 from the Hellenic Army, 6 from the Hellenic Navy and 7 from the Hellenic Air Force).
• Security Forces: 4 Officers (2 from the Hellenic Police, 1 from the Hellenic Coast Guard and 1 from the Fire Service).
• Permanent Personnel: 2 (1 from the Hellenic Parliament and 1 from the Presidency of the Government).
• National Guard General Staff: 3 Officers.
• Foreigners: 4 Officers (2 from the Arab Republic of Egypt, 1 from Bosnia-Herzegovina and 1 from Skopje).

In his greeting, the Chief of HNDGS, after congratulating all the students on their successful graduation, pointed out that the School’s curriculum provides high-level military and academic knowledge as well as skills for the competent handling of Defence Policy and National Strategy issues.

Furthermore, addressing the 3 Greek Cypriot Officers, he emphasized that their graduation is yet another proof of the unbreakable relations of brotherhood and solidarity between Greece and Cyprus.

Also, addressing the 4 Officers from the Arab Republic of Egypt, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Skopje, he urged them to make the most of the knowledge gained and expressed the belief that the bond developed with the Greek students will contribute to the further strengthening of military cooperation between the countries.

Additionally, he congratulated the officers of the Security Forces as well as the employees of the Hellenic Parliament and the Presidency of the Government on the successful completion of the course and underlined the importance of the interaction between the public bodies of the state, in order to strengthen interoperability and cooperation in matters related to National Defence.

Finally, the Chief thanked the Commander and the personnel of the National Defence School as well as the renowned teaching personnel and the excellent external speakers for their tireless efforts and urged them to continue working with the same zeal and maintain the high prestige of the School, which is a point of reference in the provision of high-level military training not only in Greece but also abroad.

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