Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis clarified that Defence Minister Nikos Dendias expressed no disagreement with the government’s recent amendment concerning the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, despite his absence from the parliamentary discussion.
“The Defence Minister did not express any disagreement with the content of the amendment — he co-signed it and will vote for it,” Mitsotakis said in a radio interview with SKAI on Tuesday morning. “There were six other ministers who were also absent; Mr. Dendias was not the only one.”
The Prime Minister’s remarks followed speculation over Dendias’s absence during Monday’s debate, which some interpreted as a sign of political distance from the government line.
Protecting a National Symbol
Mitsotakis defended the amendment, which prohibits any future placement of names or markings on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier — a national monument of remembrance located in central Athens.
“No one will ever again be able to inscribe names on the monument,” he said. “We are drawing a line under what happened in the past and looking to the future. I expect the Ministry of Defence to make proposals on how this monument should be treated going forward.”
He added that the regulation aims to protect a space of “national memory,” noting, “This discussion would not be happening in any other country in the world — it would be taken for granted.”
Balancing Protest and Respect
The Prime Minister emphasised that the new measure “establishes normality,” stating that “the right to protest can coexist with the protection of a sacred space.”
“No one is curtailing the right to demonstrate,” Mitsotakis continued. “We are seeking a solution that unites rather than divides.”
Criticism of Political Opponents
Turning to the broader political climate, Mitsotakis accused “certain political groups” of exploiting victims’ families to provoke unrest. “We are not targeting any parent,” he said, referring to ongoing debates following national tragedies. “The courts have already ruled on the case of Mr. Ruci.”
The Prime Minister also dismissed what he called the “theory of a cover-up” surrounding the train tragedy, saying it had “collapsed” after investigations confirmed that “no illegal cargo was on board the train.”
He reserved sharp criticism for opposition parties, accusing the PASOK party of becoming a “follower of [left-wing politician] Zoe Konstantopoulou,” despite having once cooperated with his government “to keep Greece in Europe.”
Mitsotakis also criticised Kyriakos Velopoulos, leader of the nationalist Greek Solution party, for skipping Monday’s parliamentary session: “He was absent because he couldn’t both support conspiracy theories about xylol and at the same time defend the need to protect the monument.”
