Defense Minister Nikos Dendias made an early-morning visit to the Combat Support Training Center in Lamia to meet with the first volunteers from Greece’s inaugural cohort of women enlisted under the new voluntary military service program. According to sources, Dendias went there to inquire about the conditions the recruits were facing, after four of the volunteers had already requested deferral just days after reporting for duty. At least two others had reportedly expressed the same wish. The numbers had already been reduced heading in: of the 72 women originally expected to report, only 51 actually enlisted.

Dendias decided to go in person to check that all was well. “Women’s voluntary service in the Hellenic Army has been enshrined in law for 50 years. This is the first time it is actually happening, because there were always obstacles,” he said, speaking with all the recruits and conveying his appreciation for their choice. Acknowledging problems in an implicit but unmistakable way, he asked the trainees to speak openly with their officers. “We need to understand what is not going right, what needs to change. This is the Army, not a vacation and not a hotel. But it is a citizens’ Army. That means we want each and every one of you to feel that you are serving your country and society,” Dendias said.