Tsipras names Armed Forces chief Apostolakis as next Defense Minister

He was born in Rethymno in 1957, entered the Hellenic Navy Academy in 1976 and graduated in 1980 as a Line Ensign. He has served in a succession of command and staff positions aboard ships, and senior staff positions in the Greek navy and NATO, as well as undergoing training in the Greek Navy's Underwater Demolition Command (DYK), which he later commanded, the Advanced Mine Warfare School in Belgium and the US Amphibious Warfare School.

On 7 March 2013, the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence (KYSEA) appointed him to the post of Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff. On 20 August 2015, KYSEA selected him as the successor of General Michail Kostarakos as Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, promoting him to full Admiral. The order took effect on 15 September.

Admiral Apostolakis has been a much respefcted Armed Forces chief with a reputation for enhancing training and operating the armed forces very succesfully on the shoestring budget he has had under the austerity that has gripped Greece for almost a decade.