The judgments of the management Armed forces they rarely concern the general public, who in any case regard the military as a non-controversial area. However, the involvement of the name of the Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Armed Forces, Konstantinos Floros, in the case of the legal ties of the EMP and the political confrontation between the government and the official opposition, for the same reason, brought to the surface the friction and tension that had existed in the Armed Forces for a long time.

Literally until the last minute before the KYUSEA meeting, which led to the election of new leaders of the HPP and the GEN, and subsequently to fairly large-scale changes in the hierarchy, everything was in the air.

From the moment it was announced that Angelos Khudeloudis had been appointed as the new head of GES and Ioannis Drimousis had taken over as the new head of GEN, something had become clear to all experienced observers of what was going on in the so-called – in defiance of any geometrical definition – “Pentagon” : Mr. Floros must dominate everyone. With the exception of the leadership of the Air Force (VVS), which remained the same, in the Army (S.Kh) and the Navy (PN) persons of the absolute pleasure of the head of the GITHA were placed. This, of course, in no way detracts from the indisputable value and combat experience of the new leadership of the Armed Forces.

From Mr. Floros’s point of view, the complete dominance of his views on the issue of leadership choice is quite natural. As he himself notes in his respective conversations, based on the latest amendment to the law (L.3883/2010) on his duties, the head of the Main Directorate exercises full command of all branches of the Armed Forces. The chief of GEETHA cannot simply be the coordinator of the General Staff. The very fact that these discussions often had to be held at the Pentagon testifies to the difficulties that existed.

Mr. Khoudeloudis has known Mr. Floros for a long time, but their relationship developed during the years when both served as the head of GEETHA, Evangelos Apostolakis. Mr. Hudeloudis was the Director of Communications and Mr. Floros was the Deputy Head of GEETHA. During the same period, Francis Leloudas, a senior PN officer, also served under Mr. Apostolakis. who has now been appointed deputy head of GETHA in place of Mr. Drimousis, who has taken over as head of GEN. Mr. Khoudeloudis replaced General Charalambos Lalouzis, the first head of GES, who remained in this position for three years after his predecessors’ 25-year one- or two-year terms. Mr. Lalouzi’s proposals regarding the post-retirement situation were not taken into account by Mr. Floros, who should not have done so. As the oldest active senior ED officer coming from the military, he didn’t feel like anyone had better control over the situation than he did.

With the exception of the leadership of the Air Force, which remained the same, the army and navy were assigned to persons who were under the full responsibility of the head of GEETHA.

Many describe the judgments of senior officers last Monday at the level of P.N. like a big clearing. During the 2020 Orout Race crisis, Mr. Floros and the then Chief General Stelios Petrakis and Chief of the Navy Panagiotis Limberis, despite some differences of opinion, cooperated excellently, which was also reflected in the field. The fleet broke all records, and the old surface units “whitewashed” the country and, on a different level, the military leadership. The constituent element of this course was Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras, the then deputy commander of the fleet (at sea the commander of the fleet during the crisis of the “orut race”), and now the only one of the leaders of P.N. which remained active. The Oruch Reis crisis was followed by a generally uneasy relationship between P.N. and the head of GITHA, without violating, however, the operational work of the army. The most “incompatible” were the characters of the leader of the GITA, K. Floros, and the leader of the Fleet, Panagiotis Limberis, while external factors also played a very important role in aggravating relations, mainly various “well-wishers”, who now and then found ways to create negative advertising.

The most characteristic example was some slander against Konstantinos Floros, who was described as the “destroyer” of the army, as well as some who presented Panagiotis Limberis as a man of “diminished” national consciousness. The toxic atmosphere of that period also spread to social media, with each side eager to find out who was behind each fake account.

However, on more significant issues, the opinions of the leadership of the Navy and GEETHA diverged. As if the squadron or the entire Fleet should be located at the new naval base of Crete. If necessary, a tanker terminal in Almyros Volos. If P.N. should it be focused solely on the purchase of new warships, or should it be combined with the acquisition of used units. Significant friction arose between the leadership of the Navy and GEETHA during the period of discussions about which frigate would be the best for PN, which, as you know, led to the choice of French FDI.

Each of these issues was presented to GEETHA and PN in constant conflict. As any well-intentioned observer knows, these differences at the military level are not just trivial, they are perhaps inevitable. In serious matters of national security, there can be no single truth, and indeed without controversy. In these internal debates, National Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos almost never intervened decisively.