Editorial: Immediate probe and discovery

The theft of military materiel from the naval base on the island of Leros exposes our contry’s armed forces.

One gets the impression that our military infrastrucure is out of control and that even those facilities which are guarded with a high level of security, such as warehouses of armaments, are also beyond control.

What stirs heightened concern is that in the cases of similar past thefts it turned out that the culprits were members of terrorist organisations.

These are the reasons that the case must be cleared up as soon as possible.

Neither can the prestige of the armed forces be undermined in this manner nor can one be allowed to forge the false suspicion that there is an effort to reconstitute democracy with the stolen materiel.

When the idea hovers that there is an effort underway to revive terrorism with operations of a great magnitude and with the possible use of stolen armaments that is the last thing the country needs as it struggles to turn a page.

The police angle of this affair also mandates an immediate and thorough probe as initial reports indicated that there is no evidence of a break-in.

That could limit the circle of suspects.

The conclusion is that in the future nothing can be left to chance and that handling of such matters requires a high level of responsibility.