A vote in Parliament’s plenum over a tabled amendment transferring jurisdiction of the commons in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument – which is located before the Parliament Building itself and adjacent to Syntagma Square – to the defense ministry, will take place on Wednesday.

All political leaders, including PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, spoke on Tuesday, along with numerous deputies.

The amendment had been hastily added as a rider to draft legislation regarding reforms in the civil aviation authority.

The front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in central Athens, beneath the Parliament Building on Syntagma Square.

The government tabled the amendment in a bid, as it said, to better safeguard the monument from vandalism and political exploitation, while the opposition has scathingly attacked the initiative as stifling freedom of assembly and expression.

The amendment was tabled in the wake of a hunger strike at the site by the father, Panos Ruci, of one of the victims, Dennis Ruci, of the February 2023 Tempi rail disaster. The elder Ruci had demanded that authorities allow the exhumation of his son’s body for DNA and toxicology testing. Approval of such requests are the domain of judicial officials in Greece, although much of the criticism – especially by the political opposition – was aimed at the conservative government.

A protest rally was held outside Parliament during Tuesday’s debate.

DM Dendias’ Statement From Across the Street

Earlier, during the heated debate by deputies from all parties – something not unusual for Greece’s legislature – Defense Minister Nikos Dendias chose to give an address just across the street from the legislature and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, as he spoke during an event at a downtown Athens hotel.

In a written announcement handed out to the press, Dendias noted that “…the Ministry of Defense and the armed forces will not treat the memorial (the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) as an object of political maneuvering and social division,” – something for which opposition parties have accused the government.

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias.

The event at which Dendias spoke was organized by the Hellenic Army general staff to unveil a commemorative edition entitled “General Staff Operations: Diary 1940–1941.”

“…This monument unites Greeks now and forever, and the Ministry of National Defense and the Armed Forces will not treat it as an object of political maneuvering and social division,” the minister underlined during the event, which was previously scheduled.