Defence Minister Nikos Dendias accompanied by the Chief of the  Hellenic National Defence General Staff General Dimitrios Houpis and the Chief of the Hellenic Navy Vice Admiral Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras attended on Saturday the handover of the command of the EU operation “Aspides” to Commodore Konstantinos Pitykakis of the Hellenic Navy, on board the Italian Navy ship “ITS Andrea Doria”.

Defence Minister of Djibouti Hassan Omar Mohamed Bourhan, the commander of the European operation “Aspides”, Rear Admiral Vasilios Gryparis , the Chief of the Djibouti Navy Captain Ahmed Daher Djama, the Chief of the Italian Defence Staff General Luciano Portolano, the Ambassador of the European Union to Djibouti Sylvie Tabesse, the Ambassador of of Italy to Ethiopia with parallel accreditation to Djibouti Agostino Palese, as well as the honorary consul of Greece in Djibouti Ekaterini Sturaiti also attended the handover ceremony.

The Minister of National Defense congratulated the new Commodore and wished him success in his duties.

Among other things, Dendias said that “Djibouti is the key partner for the European Union in this part of the world” while he continued saying that “Aspides” operation is a defence operation” but also “the largest scale operation that the European Union has ever carried out”. “Its implementation is fully compliant with International Law and the International Law of the Sea” he added.

Later, Dendias visited the Greek frigate “SPETSAI” , which is docked at the port of Djibouti, as part of its participation in the European operation Aspides. “Today is a day of great importance for us in Greece, because today the Hellenic Navy takes over the command of the operation Aspides on board with the commodore Konstantinos Pitykakis, Dendias said addressing the crew of the frigate.

“It is”, he continued, “a moment that confirms the role that our country wants to play. The role it wants to play in ensuring the safety of navigation and in ensuring the observance of the principles of International Law and in particular the International Law of the Sea”, Dendias concluded.