72nd CISM Congress and General Assembly in Athens, Greece – Day 2
ATHENS (GRE) – The second day of the 72nd CISM Congress and General Assembly, that is taking place from 2 to 8 May, started with the PCSC Meeting in the morning. In the same time, the Chiefs of Delegations, delegates and spouses went on a touring around Acropolis Rock and its museum, as did the Board of Directors Members yesterday.
A CISM delegation, led by the CISM President Colonel Abdulhakeem Alshino and CISM Secretary General Colonel Dorah Mamby Koita and comprised of the CISM Authorities and the BoD Members, was invited for a meeting with the following Greece Ministry of Defense Authorities: Mr. Panos Kammenos - Minister of Defense; Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis - Chief of General Staff; Lieutenant-General Alikviadis Stefanis - Chief of Army; Vice Admiral Nikolaos Tsounis - Chief of Navy: Lieutenant-General Christos Christodoulou, Chief of Air Force.
In the afternoon, the Opening Press Conference was held in the Titania Hotel in attendance of the CISM President Colonel Abdulhakeem Alshino, the CISM Vice-President Europe Colonel Dirk Schwede, the CISM Secretary General Colonel Dorah Mamby Koita, the CISM President advisor Major General (Retired) Kousantas Konstantinos, the Chief of Delegation of Greece to CISM Navy Captain Spyridon Andriopoulos, the Office Director of the Ministry of Defense Colonel Engineer Alexandros Hatzialexandris and the Communication Director of the Ministry of Defense Katerina Tsatsaroni. The speakers introduced CISM and its activities as well as the Greek Delegation activities to the local journalists and then answered the questions of the audience.
From 14.00 to 17.00, the CISM Newcomers Seminar 2017 was organized for the first time for the new Chiefs of Delegation. The goal of the Seminar was to acquaint new Chiefs of Delegations/Delegates with the CISM functioning and areas in order to facilitate their understanding of CISM and maximize their contribution to the CISM goals.
Right after this Seminar, the Opening Ceremony started at 18.30 in the Zappeion Hall that was used as the main fencing venue during the 1896 Summer Olympics and as the Olympic Village in the 1906 Intercalated Games. The Zappeion Hall also hosted the Organizing Committee (ATHOC) for the 2004 Olympic Games.
The following Guest of Honor attended the event: Colonel Abdulhakeem Alshino - CISM President; Colonel Dorah Mamby Koita - CISM Secretary General; Major General Dr. Gianni Gola - CISM Honorary President; the Board of Directors Members; Mr. Panos Kammenos – Minister of the National Defense of Greece accompanied by the Chief of Hellenic National Defense General Staff; Captain (HN) Spyridon Andriopoulos – Chief of the Greek Delegation to CISM. After the speeches of the CISM President Colonel Abdulhakeem Alshino and Mr. Panos Kammenos - Minister of the National Defense of Greece, CISM President awarded Mr. Kammenos with the CISM Order of Merit as Grand Officer
The Opening Ceremony ended with a theatrical act directed by Sofia Spyratou.
In the evening, all the participants of this 72nd CISM Congress and General Assembly attended a superb Opening Cocktail and Dinner.
Tomorrow schedule will feature the continental meetings that will take place in the Titania Hotel while the CISM delegates will have the opportunity to play a football tournament confronting the four continents in the evening.
Source: David Vandenplas (CISM Media and Communication Director)
Pictures: Maxime Morlet (CISM Media and Communication Assistant) & Ioannis Dondoros
