The President of the Republic, Konstantinos Tasoulas, visited the military surveillance outpost on Agathonisi, where he was received by the commander of the 79th Senior Command of National Guard Battalions, Brigadier General Emmanouel Touloupakis, and the commander of the 649th National Guard Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Anastasios Fourikis. He was briefed on the outpost’s mission and operational role.
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A message of national sovereignty from Agathonisi
In a statement delivered at the outpost, the President of the Republic emphasized that “the flag flying behind us waves proudly and resolutely, declaring the Greek identity of this region — and declaring our determination to defend our sovereignty against any threat or provocation.”
The full statement by President Konstantinos Tasoulas
“We are at the surveillance outpost of Agathonisi. We are in an island cluster surrounded by Kalolimnos, Strongyli, Imia, and further north, Samos — all deeply Greek territories, which from here, from this outpost, one can see, describe, and above all protect. We stand at the very edge of Greece, and therefore at the edge of Europe.
The shores across from us — once the lands of Ionia, today the territory of Turkey — are less than 8 miles away. I asked to meet the soldiers serving at this surveillance outpost. They welcomed me with the highest of spirits, and I felt that the flag flying behind us waves proudly and resolutely, declaring the Greek identity of this region — and declaring our determination to defend our sovereignty against any threat or provocation.
Greece is present in Agathonisi. Greece is present in the neighboring islands. Greece is present historically, socially, and in every meaningful sense. And today’s Greece — the youth of Greece, the young men and women serving their military duty — will always remember with pride and honor that ‘we once served in Agathonisi, we once held in our hands the sovereignty and integrity of Greece, and we guarded that sovereignty and that integrity well.'”
