Ambassador Emeritus Anastasios Mitsialis has resigned as Governor of Mount Athos, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
The new Governor is the Honorary Chief of the General Staff of the Hellenic Armed Forces and former Minister of National Defense, General Alkiviadis Stefanis.
An. Mitsialis took office in December 2023.
He was born in Athens in 1959. He entered the Hellenic Military Academy in 1978 and graduated as a Second Lieutenant in 1982.
He has served in armored units as a platoon leader and company commander, as commander of the Reserve Officer Candidate Squadron (Y.E.A.) and as an instructor at the Hellenic Military Academy. From 1998 to 2000, he commanded the 98th Armored Squadron of the National Guard (98 EARMETH) in Lesvos.
From 2000 to 2002, he served as Army Aide to the President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos. He also served as the Operations Officer of the Hellenic Military Delegation to the NATO International Military Staff in Brussels.
In the following years, he successively served as Chief of Staff of the XXIII Armored Brigade “Dorylaion” in Alexandroupolis, Deputy Commander of the 50th Mechanized Infantry Brigade “Apsos” in Soufli, Director of the Defense Planning and Programming Directorate of the General Staff of the Hellenic Army (2010 – 2011) and Commander of the XXIII Armored Brigade “Dorylaion” in Alexandroupolis.
Subsequently, he successively held the positions of Director of the Fourth Branch of the General Staff of the Hellenic Army (2012 – 2014 and 2015 – 2016), Commander of the 95th Higher National Guard Battalion Command “Diagorides” (2014 – 2015), and finally Commander of the III Army Corps / NRDC-GR (2016 – 2017).
By decision of the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense, he assumed the duties of Chief of the General Staff of the Hellenic Armed Forces on January 16, 2017. On January 25, 2019, he was honorably discharged, promoted to the rank of General and awarded the title of Honorary Chief of the General Staff of the Hellenic Armed Forces.
On July 9, 2019, he was sworn in as Deputy Minister of National Defense in the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. On August 9, he was assigned the responsibility to decide on the formation, reorganization and dissolution of units and formations of the Armed Forces (AF), to decide on the formation and operation of the Interbranch Committee on Social Problems, to define the health policy of the Armed Forces, to decide on issues related to pardon applications, to decide on the status, hierarchy and promotion of junior officers, warrant officers, permanent and volunteer soldiers, etc.
On October 23, 2019, by decision of the Prime Minister, he was appointed special coordinator for the relocation of asylum seekers from the island. Following a government reshuffle on August 31, 2021, he was replaced in his role as Deputy Minister of National Defense by Nikos Hardalias.
On March 9, 2022, by decision of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, he was appointed Government Advisor on Border Areas and Mount Athos Issues.
On May 26, 2023, he was appointed Minister of National Defense in the caretaker government of Ioannis Sarmas.
On July 14, 2023, his candidacy for the position of Regional Governor of the Northern Aegean was announced with the New Democracy Party, under the “New Dynamics” coalition.
