The government amendment concerning the Unknown Soldier was filed on Monday afternoon (20/10). The amendment will be voted on Tuesday, and Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to defend the regulation with his statement in the Parliamentary Plenary session.
According to the amendment, responsibility for protecting the Monument remains with the Ministry of Citizen Protection, while maintenance, care and promotion are taken over by the Ministry of National Defense. The amendment states that the Ministry of National Defense will handle these responsibilities.
Due to the Monument’s character as a space for honoring soldiers, paragraph 3 further provides for the Ministry of National Defense’s authority to take all necessary measures for maintenance, care and promotion of the Monument and the space described in paragraph 1, which can be exercised through its own means or by assigning related contracts to third parties, including private entities.
From the effective date of the amendment, the following are prohibited:
a) The use or occupation of any surface area of the space for any purpose beyond visiting the Monument and highlighting its significance,
b) any alteration of the space,
c) conducting any public outdoor assembly as defined in paragraph 1 of article 2 of law 4703/2020 (A’ 131), including spontaneous and emergency outdoor public assemblies as defined in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the aforementioned article 2.
Those who violate these prohibitions will be punished with imprisonment of up to one (1) year or a monetary fine, unless they are punished more severely by another provision.
It should be noted that the amendment is signed by ministers Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Nikos Dendias, Theodoros Livanios, Michalis Chrysochoidis, Stavros Papastavrou, Georgios Floridis and Lina Mendoni.
