-UPDATE-
Lt.-Gen. Dimitrios Choupis, the former commander of the Hellenic Army’s special forces branch, has assumed the position of chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (HNDGS), succeeding Gen. Konstantinos Floros, who retired after completing a four-year term. The latter was not eligible for a renewal.
The National Security Governmental Council (KYSEA) convened on Friday morning under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to discuss the selection of a new armed forces chief and new chiefs of the Hellenic Army General Staff (HAGS), the Hellenic Navy General Staff (HNGS) and the Hellenic Air Force General Staff (HAFGS).
Additionally, the following high-ranking officers were selected to head up branches of the armed forces: Lt.-Gen. Georgios Kostidis as chief of the army; Lt.-Gen. Dimosthenis Grigoriadis as chief of the Hellenic Air Force, and Vice-Adm. Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras as chief of the Hellenic Navy.
The outgoing armed forces chief, Gen. Floros, was bestowed the title of honorary HNDGS chief.
Gen. Floros’ three-year term was previously extended by one year.
Under Greek law, the HNDGS chief must enjoy seniority compared to all other serving officers in the armed forces, meaning that high-ranking officers who graduated ahead of a new chief from one of the three military academies in the country are automatically retired.
Floros is credited with launching a rearmament and modernization program in all three branches after more than a decade and a half of cutbacks and tight fiscal restrictions. He also oversaw Greece’s armed forces during a handful of provocations and saber-rattling by the Erdogan administration in Ankara, including an attempt by tens of thousands of would-be migrants to breach Greece’s land border from Turkey in February and March 2020 and tense naval maneuvers in a sea region in the central-east Mediterranean in the summer of 2021.
