On Friday 22 October 2021, the General Director of National Defence Policy and International Relations of the Ministry of National Defence, Dr Konstantinos Balomenos, participated as a key note speaker in 124th Conference of EUROMIL (European Organisation of Military Associations and Trade Unions), which was held at the Armed Forces Officers’ Club (LAED) in Athens under the auspices of POMENS (Panhellenic Federation of Military Unions).
In his speech, the General Director referred to the security environment of the South-Eastern Mediterranean and identified its main threats and challenges. He made particular reference to the issue of migration in the context of the thematic session of the conference entitled: “Armed Forces and Migration, European Union and Migration”, and focused on the tooling of migrants by Turkey, a phenomenon which acts as a hybrid threat to Greece and the European Union.
He also mentioned the events that took place in the Evros river region in February-March 2020, during which Turkey with hybrid type operations sought to destabilise Greece and generate strategic profits against both Greece and the European Union. The root cause of this was Turkey’s continued effort to push the European Union in order to gain political and economic benefits, while at the same time promoting provocative demands against our country.
Concluding his speech, the General Director Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos congratulated the members of EUROMIL for their achievements in the matters of fundamental rights, freedoms, social policies and the smooth connection of the military community to the wider community. At the same time, he proposed concrete initiatives — actions to the EUROMIL Management Board in areas such as education, civil-military cooperation, gender equality, support for the military community and the fight against sexual harassment in the workplace.
Finally, the General Director of National Defence Policy and International Relations expressed his confidence that this Conference would provide a fruitful framework for constructive discussion among the members as a whole, as well as for drawing useful conclusions leading to a common understanding and a unified way of thinking and functioning at European institutions and society levels.
