Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias Attends Festivities for the 112th Anniversary of the Liberation of Florina

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Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias Attends Festivities for the 112th Anniversary of the Liberation of Florina

November 8, 2024

On Friday, 8 November 2024, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias, representing the Government, attended the "Eleftheria" festivities, held in Florina, for the 112^thanniversary of the Liberation of the city.

The Minister, accompanied by the Commanding General of C Army Corps/NRDC-GR "MEGAS ALEXANDROS", Lieutenant General Athanasios Garinis, attended the doxology at Saint George Church, officiated by the His Eminence the Metropolitan of Florina, Prespes, and Eordaia Irinaios.

Next, Mr. Dendias laid a wreath at the Heroes Memorial and attended the parade of civilian and military forces at Makedonomahon Avenue.

The events were also attended by MP for Florina Stavros Papasotiriou, the Head of the Region of Western Macedonia Giorgos Amanatidis, the Deputy Head of Region for Florina Athanasios Taskas, the Mayor of Florina Vasileios Giannakis, representatives of political parties, the Commanding General of the 9^thMotorized Infantry Brigade "ANDRIANOUPOLI", Brigadier General Kosmas Kalmanidis, the Fire Service Coordinator for Epirus, the Ionian Islands and Western Macedonia, Fire Service Major General Christoforos Bokas, the General Regional Police Superintendent for Western Macedonia, Brigadier General Konstantinos Spanoudis, other local government representatives and representatives of Authorities, Agencies and Associations.

After the wreath laying at the Heroes Memorial, the Minister of National Defence stated:

"Member of Parliament, dear colleague, Deputy Head of Region, Mr. Mayor, Your Eminence, General Commander of C Army Corps, Officers, friends,

It is a great honour for me to be here today, representing the Hellenic Government and, I hope, Greek society as well, in Florina, 112 years since its liberation from the Turkish yoke.

On this day, in 1912, the Hellenic Army fulfilled the dream of our ancestors. On 8 November and after the city had been surrendered the day before by its representatives to Major Artis, the VI Division under Commander-in-Chief Crown Prince Konstantinos at that time, entered the city, incorporating it into the national body, thus marking the realisation of the dream of our national fulfilment, leading to the liberation of the rest of Macedonia.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today's anniversary, every anniversary, invites us to recall and honour those who sacrificed their life for our Country.

What we owe as Greeks today is to preserve the memory of every anniversary not only as an institutional duty, but also as a learning activity for future generations.

I do not believe and I avoid delivering wooden panegyrics.

But I deeply believe in our Country, our religion, our language, our traditions, our collective national memory. These, no matter what some say in modern times, are the elements of the identity of modern Hellenism.

They are the solid anchors in the century and the times of globalisation. They are anchors protecting Hellenism from difficult times.

At this age of turmoil, our national debt is to maintain and pass to the next generation all those things handed down to us; pass the values that previous generations handed down to us; secure sovereignty, our sovereign rights, our independence, always in the context of International Law, always in the context of the Law of the Sea.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Events like this allow us to activate our collective national memory, keep alive the memory of the dead, our struggles, derive lessons, and finally try to draw a better future for our Country's tomorrow. We can achieve that, if our Armed Forces, our protector, the provider of security to the citizens, to society, to every Greek woman and man, remain strong and vigilant, ready to fulfil their duty.

Happy anniversary! Thank you".