A lecture by K. Floros, translated to English.
Part II of the translated lecture of General Konstantinos Floros, given at the “Club of the Armed Forces” in April 2024.
As Floros tells us in the first part: The world is a dangerous place, and history has a tendency to repeat itself. Despite advancements in democracy and human rights, the fundamental drivers of human conflict – survival, power, influence, and wealth – remain constant. Nation-states, the dominant actors in the international system, must possess strength, particularly military strength, to survive and thrive. This is especially true for countries like Greece, located in a strategically important and volatile region.
In this part of the lecture, General Floros focuses on the recent challenges and changes made to the Greek Armed Forces during his command as Chief of General Staff for National Defense (ΓΕΕΘΑ).
You can find the first part of the lecture, focused on military Strength and its role in politics here: https://andrejmarkov.com/2024/11/04/the-pursuit-of-peace-in-stormy-seasons/
The Recent Challenges
In the last four years, we have been called upon to face and have successfully dealt with a series of unprecedented defense and security challenges for Greece, both in terms of intensity and duration, starting with the hybrid attack on Evros11 in March 2020, where we sealed our borders together with the Greek Police and imposed our will against the will of the adversary who attempted to destabilize the Greek state at that time. Because that was what it was all about, the stakes were high.
The extortion was crude and blatant. We should not be fooled by the way it was sought to be done, i.e. without overt weapons.
The result if it had succeeded would have been the same, the country would have been destabilized. There was a victory, therefore, in Evros and so it must be recorded and has been recorded in the collective subconscious of the Greeks, and rightly so. And make no mistake, the opponents perceived it as such.
Later, in the summer of the same year, came the almost four-month crisis on the occasion of the departure of the Turkish research vessel, Oruc Reis, in the Eastern Mediterranean, where the Armed Forces as a whole were mobilized en masse and intensely on land, sea and air, for a very long period of time, until almost the end of the year, leaving no room for misunderstandings or ambiguities about our intentions and capabilities on the ground.
At the same time, during this four-year period, a huge effort has been made to reorganize, restructure and redesign the security and defense architecture of the country, and to further strengthen its deterrent power, especially in Evros and the islands.
We also assessed in a very timely manner the actual situation throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa and their potential security challenges (which have indeed emerged in the years to come) and, taking into account, of course, the country’s main defense challenge of balancing and deterring Turkey, the apparent defense need emerged for us to upgrade and reorganize our infrastructure and our overall defense planning in Crete became apparent.
So, from 2020, the construction of the New National Naval Dockyard(Νέος Εθνικός Ναύσταθμος) for our Navy in Souda was decided and implemented, which is underway and is running at a rapid pace, so that in the very near future half of the Greek fleet could be accommodated there in modern facilities. In addition, in Crete, airborne Ιnfantry and special forces units have been reinforced and staffed, infrastructure for transport and attack helicopters have been and are being constructed, and procedures have begun for the construction of a second military airport in Kastelli alongside the civilian airport there, which will further enhance our capabilities in the South-Eastern Aegean and the Eastern and Central Mediterranean.
These are huge changes in the geopolitical and geostrategic possibilities of projecting our Flag and Strength for our homeland, and a narrowing of any distances that have vexed us in one way or another in the distant or more recent past, in relation to the possibilities of defending the wider Hellenism.
We are accustomed to saying that geography is a given and cannot be changed, and this is correct in principle. But I would not agree 100% with the above postulate. Yes, we cannot drag Greece around on the map. But what we can do, and I am particularly proud, satisfied and happy that we decided to do, proposed, were approved by the Prime Minister and is now evolving, is that we can “tweak” the geography a little bit, to modify it to our advantage, based on our National Interest and our Grand Strategy.
This is what we are doing with the new infrastructure, the new Naval Stations2 and the new airfields, in areas of high geopolitical, geostrategic, and geoeconomic value, as I think even the most ignorant person about these things understands that I am speaking about Crete.
Our foreign friends, partners and allies know this and have been investing there for a long time.
We had to wait for 2020 to do it, amidst objections, disagreements, deliberate delays and obstructions, mud wars etc., but so be it! It is the result that counts. Even so, things have taken their course and I hope they continue apace. Circumstances are tough and there is no luxury of time. Reality is harsh and it comes with speed. It warns and gives signs. We have to perceive them, recognise them, decode them and, above all, not ignore them and not navel gaze. Because reality, like History, when ignored, will punish you. Sometimes ruthlessly.
The New Infrastructure
As far as Alexandroupolis is concerned, the “Souda of the North” as I like to call it, there too we have utilized and we continue to utilize the port by providing facilities to Alliance forces to strengthen them and to reinforce the Southeastern Wing, essentially bypassing the Straits, which are closed, at least to the West.
I need not emphasize how important this development is at the National level. Two countries are very upset about the upgrade and the appearance on the map of Alexandroupolis. Both belong to the “club” of revisionist states, both in mentality and in actions. “Project Alexandroupolis”is therefore of enormous national importance.
The strategic value of the capital of Evros, of course, acquires additional international significance in the context of its rapid energy upgrade, in accordance with the Government’s broader plans.
The establishment and operation of the Special Warfare Command of the General Staff has reformed a decades-old obsolete model and placed the Special Forces and Special Operations Forces of the homeland in a new era, as required by the self-evident need for modern planning and execution of such operations in peace, tension, crisis, war, and post-war.
In addition, the Space Administration was established within the General Staff of National Defense for the optimal use and exploitation of information and data from satellite systems.
From the very first moment, in addition to our close cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Government, we have been in contact and cooperating intensively and continuously with the respective Administrations of France and the United States, and the next milestone is to acquire a Space Command when we manage to send military assets into space3.
We moved to upgrade, strengthen, and grow the Administration of Cyber Defense to meet the ever-increasing challenge of cyberattacks. It may not be widely known that the Greek Armed Forces are involved in protecting the operations of critical agencies, government departments, and structures of the state in this area as well.
With the latter two, therefore, Greece has entered into operational capabilities in all five dimensions of military operations: land, sea, air, cyberspace and space.
It takes continuity, though, it takes continuity, consistency, responsibility, effort, patience, perseverance, method, planning, and resources. Resources for Defence, because when you abandon Defence, it also abandons you ten times over, and when you decide to tackle it again, it costs you a lot more time and money.
And the clock is ticking. Situations and developments are rushing by.
In the field of defense diplomacy, as far as the armed forces were concerned, our military cooperation with the United States, France, with almost all the Balkan countries, with important Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates, was dramatically strengthened, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt, as well as with Israel and, of course, with Cyprus, thus contributing to the establishment of Greece as a pillar of peace, security, and stability in the Balkans and the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.
Armaments
In the field of armament programmes, which had been “frozen” for more than a decade and as a consequence of the economic crisis, but not only, the General Staff proposed and the government approved in 2020 a solid defense plan that builds the strong Greek armed forces of the present, but mainly of the future, with an armament programme that is ambitious, but far-reaching and carefully thought out as it should be in a short, medium-term horizon of the next 15 years.
In addition to this, in the past four years a study was conducted for the Armed Forces in 2050, in order to additionally plan for the long term horizon of Greek Defense Strength. This is what all the armies of the world do, and so shall we.
Turning to the present and the short and medium term future, we have the following: the Rafale aircraft are already here, the F-16 fighters are being rapidly upgraded, the Belharra frigates are being built, the first 3* of the 7 new modern anti-submarine helicopters of the Navy that were ordered in 2020 arrived a few days ago. SPIKE-NLOS4 [missile systems] are on their way, while hundreds of wheeled armored vehicles of the Army are already operating in front-line units on the border.
We have activated or drawn up from the onset where they didn’t exist, Continued-Support Agreements, the so-called FOS, for all air assets, aircraft and helicopters, and not only, and so slowly but steadily the availability of assets that have been idle for many, many years has started to rise.
Since 2022, we have started in cooperation with a very friendly country, which is distinguished in this field, the implementation and deployment of a complete and comprehensive Electronic Warfare system, including ANTI-UAV5 capabilities of very high standards. The first phase is finished and the rest will follow, I hope very soon, as planned, until full coverage of Greece, as I have been hearing lately and I hope to see it happen.
Due to its relevance, it is worth mentioning that since 2022, a comprehensive study for the total reorganization and repositioning of the country’s air defence has been prepared and approved by the Council of Chiefs of General Staff (ΣΑΓΕ) and is awaiting its promotion for implementation, with agencies, systems, weapons and missiles of all categories and characteristics necessary to secure the country from missile and air attacks by manned and unmanned aircraft, up to ballistic missiles and suicide drones.
Scenarios of attempted saturation of friendly air defenses have also been envisaged, as happened recently in Israel.
As I said in an unsuspected time and publicly when I was Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, threats when made should be heard and taken seriously, especially when the threat maker has, or says he has, the capabilities to fulfill those threats. And so we did in this area.
The above are just a few and indicative of all that has been done and will be continued, I hope, in the years to come. .
The progress made in our equipment and asset support programs is impressive both in speed and quantity, since during the last four years, following actions by the General Staff of National Defense and the other General Staffs (Army, Navy, Air), 160 equipment programs were awarded, an additional 75 were funded, and 137 were approved by KYSEA6, in accordance with the provisions and procedures of the current National Defense Plan (ΕΑΣ).
Data which emphatically reflects the significant improvement, in terms of increasing the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces compared to previous years.
The People
In terms of human resources and efforts to strengthen them, the process that was approved by the Government again in 2020 on our recommendation is continuing, as we continue to recruit 15,580 in total for the five-year period 2020-2025.
Alongside all these many very important things, and without any discount whatsoever to their main mission, the Greek Armed Forces stood with unparalleled consistency by the side of Greek society in all kinds of trials, acts of God and natural catastrophes, as well as in the pandemic.
Wherever and whenever our country needed us, regardless of the difficulties and the nature of the events, the Greek armed forces were, are, and will always be there.
That is why I want to thank once again, even though I am retired, this wonderful staff of the Armed Forces and express to them my unlimited respect, my deep appreciation, and my absolute confidence in what they do. They guard and protect Greece and the Greeks.
The Future
Our Armed Forces are really very powerful and a very difficult opponent for anyone who defines them as such. They have the ability to safeguard territorial integrity and national independence against external threats, and all concerned know this very well. Both friends, allies and partners, but also those who identify themselves as adversaries and aggressors. The task at stake for the future, then, is to remain so: strong and deterrent!
When you have exhausted all the currencies you have as a State to trade in the anarchic and sometimes precarious international system, in other words, when you have exhausted your arguments about international law, which I believe, respect, serve, and have served, when all those things that define the international order, i.e. agreements, treaties, protocols, etc., cease to apply, then you must be sure that you have in your pocket the only internationally recognizable currency that ensures national survival with dignity and on equal terms with your competitors. And that is none other than the currency of military strength. The only reliable medium of exchange in the global bazaar of national survival that everyone respects. And so you are a feared adversary to those who consider you an adversary and an attractive partner, ally and friend to the rest.
Let us have sufficient Strength then, even if we never use it. And may we never use it!
As long as it is there, that we and everyone may know we have it, that we can and will use it to brave what is in front of us, in order to live free, independent and dignified lives.
After all, this is what we learned from our ancestors. Let us not be confused with the nearly 70 consecutive years of peace that the country has experienced from 1950 to the present, and let us hope that it will be a thousand.
Before that, there were another 130 years when the nation slept and woke up with a gun in its hand, so that we could have what we enjoy today. Nothing has been given to us for free! The 121,692 names inscribed on the Monument to the Immortals which was constructed during my days as Commander of the Armed Forces are an irrefutable witness to this and the War Museums around the country, with the Athens War Museum as the flagship, are the arks of the memory and sacrifices of the Greeks for their freedom.
The dialogue between Melians and Athenians must be constantly in our minds and in our strategic thinking. This dialogue is the quintessence of international relations even today 2500 years later. And I do not foresee that it can change in the foreseeable future.
«δυνατὰ δὲ οἱ προύχοντες πράσσουσι καὶ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ξυγχωροῦσιν»
“the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”7
Footnotes:
- The Greek name for the river Maritsa and the surrounding region. ↩︎
- Floros mentions multiple Stations because Souda was not the only one planned by him, another Dockyard was planned which was recently canceled by Minister of Defense Nikos Dendias. https://armyvoice.gr/2024/10/nafstathmos-magnisias-telos-ypografi-nikou-dendia/#google_vignette ↩︎
- Note that beginning in 2021 Greece has begun its own Satellite program with help of the ESA. https://europeanspaceflight.com/greece-awards-contracts-totalling-e53m-to-iceye-and-ororatech/ ↩︎
- Israeli Fire-and-Forget Missile System produced by Rafael. ↩︎
- Greece’s Hellenic Aerospace Industries (EAV) has developed a homegrown C-UAV solution called “CENTAUR”. Here, however, Floros speaks of Greece’s adoption of Israeli technology to protect its many islands. https://defence-industry.eu/hellenic-defence-security-capabilities-drones-over-the-aegean-sea/ ↩︎
- KYSEA – The Government Council for National Security. ↩︎
- Words said to have been uttered during the Siege of Melos by the Athenians, according to the ancient historian Thucydides. ↩︎
Andrej Markov 