Michalis Katrinis, an MP and head of PASOK’s Parliamentary Sector for National Defence, is seeking specific answers on how European technical support for the Hellenic Centre for Defence Innovation (ELKAK) has been used. He has submitted a question and a request for documents to the Minister of National Defence.
The PASOK MP notes that the project approved for ELKAK under the European Union’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI) includes studies and specialist advice to improve the organisation and operation of the centre. The European assistance is intended to shape the centre’s strategy and strengthen its capacity to support the development of new technologies for defence.
He also underlines the importance of the effective operation of ELKAK to the development of Greek defence expertise. The government, he says, must make use of the European assistance through concrete decisions and provide the staff and resources needed to implement the proposals it accepts.
He is calling on the Ministry to account for the progress made and improvements achieved at the centre. He wants it to justify its choices and explain any delays in implementing the proposals, so that Parliament can scrutinise how the European support has been used.
In his request for documents, he seeks the approved project description, the implementation plan, the deliverables, their assessments and approvals, as well as the committee’s minutes and progress reports, insofar as they are unclassified. He also calls on the Ministry to submit to Parliament a comprehensive account of how the project’s results have been used, by deliverable and proposal.