On Tuesday 10th December 2013, having concluded its visit to Slovenia, Senior Course 123 (SC 123) moved to Athens (Greece) for the second stop of its Regional Approaches & Partnership for Peace Field Study.
The next morning, the NDC delegation was welcomed to the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) by Vice Admiral A. Theodosiou HN, Deputy Chief of Defence of the HNDGS. Dr Daria Daniels-Škodnik, Dean of the NATO Defense College (NDC), had the opportunity to speak with Vice Admiral Theodosiou during an office call.
The group then attended two briefings, focusing on defence and foreign policy. A first presentation on “Greek National Defence Policy” was delivered by BrigGen Dimitrios Alevizos, who gave an overview of defence policy and analysed Greece’s strategic position: situated in relative proximity to the Balkans, North Africa, Central Asia and the Arabian peninsula, Greece is an essential NATO Ally for ensuring security in this area. The speaker then went on to describe Greek cooperation with other countries and organizations, commenting on Greece’s participation in many peacekeeping missions (e.g. the UN mission in Lebanon, EUTM in Mali, Operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia, ISAF, Kosovo). BrigGen Alevizos also explained the reasoning behind Greek defence policy, especially in terms of cooperation and commitment with partners, ensuring stability in the Mediterranean region, and active participation in international organizations.
The second briefing of the day, on “Greek External Policy”, was given by a panel of four Counsellors – Mr Patakias, Mr Zoitos, Mr Papameletiou and Mrs Xagorari, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – External Defence Policy Directorate. Mr Papameletiou explained the importance Greece attaches to the search for a solution to the Cyprus problem and, understandably, this sensitive issue prompted many interesting and challenging questions from the audience. Mrs Xagorari discussed relations between Greece and Turkey, while the final two panellists gave a general overview of Greek foreign policy before focusing on the Balkans.
Each briefing was followed by a lively Q&A session, allowing Course Members to focus on specific points arising from the presentations.
At the end of the morning, Dr Daniels-Škodnik met Gen Mikhail Kostarakos, Chief of Defence of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS).
Senior Course 123 now moves on to Ankara.
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