Today, the Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias was in Kythira, accompanied by the Chief of the GEETHA, Strategist Dimitrios Houpis, where he represented the Government, in the events to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Kythira.
The Minister attended the Doxology at the Holy Church of the Crucified Land of Kythera, which was performed by His Eminence the Metropolitan of Kythera and Antikythera, Mr. Seraphim and the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Samos, Ikaria and Korseon etc. Eusebius. Afterwards, he went to the Monument to the Liberation of the Port of Kapsali, where he laid a wreath after the memorial service.
Also present were the MP Nikolaos Vlahakos, as the representative of the Hellenic Parliament, the MP Konstantinos Katsafados, the Deputy Governor of the Islands of the Region of Attica Ioannis Voutsinas, the Mayor of Kythira Efstratios Harchalakis, the Commander of the Aegean Naval Command Admiral Dimitrios Gounaris PN, the President of the Property of Kythera and Antikythera Deputy General e.a. Evangelos Bernardos, representatives of the Security Forces and local bodies as well as citizens.
During his greeting at the Kapsali Port Liberation Monument, Mr. Dendias emphasized the following:
“It is my great pleasure and my great honor to be here today in Kythira, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of their liberation.
On September 4, 1944 – the Mayor said it extremely eloquently – the German forces left the island. Stories of glory were written by the forces of the National Resistance in the villages of Kythera and on September 25 the Minister of Reconstruction of the Government of National Unity, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, arrived here, as well as the destroyer “THEMISTOKLIS” with the Holy Locho, thus sealing the liberation of Kythera .
For me, Kythera, even though it is the first time in my life that I have visited it, creates a sense of familiarity, I imagine because of my Heptanisian origins.
But Kythira, dear Mr. Mayor, you spoke extremely eloquently about the past and history and hinted at the present and the future. Kythera is located at a point where the Ionian, Aegean and Cretan seas meet. An extremely strategic point for Greece, an extremely strategic point for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Control of the wider sea area and passages here largely ensures control of the Eastern Mediterranean. The Battle of Matapa between the English and Italian navies in World War II sealed British dominance in the wider area to reverse this – you said it – use of the German air force when Hitler’s forces descended on the south.
But we come to today. I would like to say that together with Chief GEETHA, we have a fixed policy. To visit the small islands, not considering that our presence confers some honor on the inhabitants, the reverse is true, contact with them confers honor on us, but wanting to underline the firm will of the Hellenic Republic to have an active presence on our small islands. Because these islands of ours are a main element of ensuring our sovereignty and sovereign rights.
And let’s not be under any illusions, ladies and gentlemen. Without our sovereignty and sovereign rights in our seas, Greece as a continental only country cannot exist. It is completely inconsistent with her history and her genetic material.
So we’re here to state the obvious. The absolute willingness to ensure in the way we can the maintenance of a strong and prosperous Greek population on our small islands, and of course through them and in accordance with International Law and the International Law of the Sea, to ensure our sovereignty and sovereign rights. Something that does not constitute a policy of the Mitsotakis Government by choice, constitutes throughout time by all Greek Governments – including the Government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis whom I represent here today – the fulfillment of our self-evident constitutional duty.
I would also like to finish by saying that I am very honored to have had the opportunity to shake the hand of Mr. Daponte, a survivor of this historic moment (of the liberation of Kythera). I did not expect when I came here that I will have this luck. And beyond the official text of the speech, Mr. Mayor, let me make two observations. Of course, you said it very correctly. now the political debate is conducted as a debate of ideas and not as a debate of weapons. And politicians are no longer exiled. The Greek people simply send them home when they decide that it does not serve them, and they do very well. If in any case, which I avoid, should I ever be exiled, you will allow me to tell you that I would beg to be sent here to Kythera!
Thank you very much.”
As part of the events, Mr. Dendias attended the presentation of an honorary plaque by the Mayor of Kythira to the 101-year-old resistance fighter Emmanuel Daponte and attended a concert by the pianist Alexandros Kyriakopoulos.
The Minister of National Defense also went to the TPC “NDEGIANNIS” which is chartered in Kythira and concluded his visit with a pilgrimage and guided tour to the Holy Pilgrimage of Panagia Myrtidiotissa.
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