Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias Attends Armed Forces Unit Recognition Ceremony as “Friend of the Environment”

Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias Attends Armed Forces Unit Recognition Ceremony as "Friend of the Environment"

June 22, 2026

Today, Monday 22 June 2026, the Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, attended the recognition ceremony of an Armed Forces Unit as "Friend of the Environment" for the year 2025, which took place at "Ioannis Kapodistrias" hall of the Ministry of National Defence. The recognition was awarded to the 871st Base Fuel Supply Depot in recognition of the environmental actions it implemented during the year.

The ceremony was also attended by the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitrios Choupis, the Chief of Hellenic Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis, the Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Dimitrios - Eleftherios Kataras HN, the Chief of Hellenic Air Force General Staff, Lieutenant General (HAF) Dimosthenis Grigoriadis, the Commanding General of the Hellenic Army Support Command, Lieutenant General Athanasios Saplaouras, and general officers of the Armed Forces.

The prize was received, on behalf of the Unit, by the Commander of the 871st Base Fuel Supply Depot, Supply - Transportation Corps Colonel Athanasios Tsioumas.

The annual "Friend of the Environment" institution is an honorary distinction of the Armed Forces, awarded collectively, in recognition of actions and initiatives which contribute to environmental protection. Such actions include, among others, energy consumption reduction, water savings, waste reduction, waste management, environmental footprint improvement, as well as personnel training and awareness-raising. The Unit recognised was selected following the submission of nominations by the General Staffs and evaluation by the Hellenic National Defence General Staff.

For the year 2025, the 871st Base Fuel Supply Depot had the highest score among the Units nominated, since its actions were evaluated as exceptionally important, having a permanent and fixed character. Furthermore, they had significant benefits at the environmental, economic, communication, and educational level.

In his address, Mr. Dendias stated the following:

"It is a great pleasure for me to be here today for the recognition ceremony of an Armed Forces Unit as 'Friend of the Environment'. I would like to say that, not long ago, if we told to Greek society that there would be such a ceremony or recognition, we would get looks of confusion.

But we have climate change to deal with as the first and foremost threat. And climate change is not a future threat. It is a tangible, everyday, real threat.

And our country's Armed Forces must take into consideration, as forward-looking Armed Forces, that the Greek environment is the main resource of the Greek nation, hence its protection is also part of the broader mission of the Armed Forces. So, it is with this strategy in mind that we view the Ministry's activities.

The Ministry of National Defence - because general declarations mean next to nothing - implements 21 specific military facility energy efficiency upgrade projects, totalling €50 mil., using European funds. And this is not common for the Ministry of National Defence. Just to state a few examples, we have energy efficiency upgrade projects in Military Hospitals, the Military Academies, the Operational Headquarters, and the War Museum.

We also systematically promote innovative approach solutions, again in order to achieve energy savings. The goal is energy autonomy.

We acknowledge the critical role of Military Plants, for example. So, we implement a comprehensive programme, another programme, with a budget in excess of 100 mil., which includes the energy efficiency upgrade of buildings totalling an area of more than 100,000 m2 in 23 military production facilities.

But there is always a symbolism and a main example. And it was the building of the Ministry of National Defence itself that was selected as the main example and symbol. It is a building that environmentally, as well as aesthetically, if I may, was a challenge, as was the entire camp. A challenge - again, if I may - of unsightliness and waste. So within this framework, we have implemented and continue to implement a series of actions regarding all building façades. Currently, we are implementing the rest of the project, the northern façade of the building, which is bio-climatic and substantially reduces the energy footprint, as well as the insulation on the building's roof and a thorough renovation of the building's interior, totalling 10,000 m2. The area of the project, for the northern side only, exceeds 26,000 m2. One can understand the size of the project, including a series of mechanical interventions to achieve energy savings. For example, the dozens of elevators of the building. And of course, hundreds of trees are planted in the surrounding area.

To sum everything up, at Camp 'Papagou', at the Ministry of National Defence, our goal is to transform it into an environmental and aesthetic example that will be a legacy for the broader area, a legacy for the country, a legacy for National Defence. And this constitutes the symbolism. A symbol visible to the average Greek citizen who doesn't have the opportunity to visit the hundreds of camps and facilities of the Armed Forces, but can see the Ministry.

And this Ministry embodies the new footprint and new view that the environmental dimension and environmental protection are part of the broader mission of the Ministry of National Defence. They constitute an element of Hellenism and, as such, it is our duty to protect them. Thank you very much".