New army recruits start reporting for service

New army recruits started reporting for duty on Monday at recruitment centres around the island.

Conscripts all over the island are reporting to camps in Paphos, Larnaca, Limassol and Nicosia all week before being dispatched to the camps where they will continue their service.

All new conscripts need to have a Safe Pass before moving to their camps, in accordance with measures issued by the health ministry against the spread of Covid-19.

There was excitement among the recruits, as several of them told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) before enlisting.

“I came here to serve my country,” 17-year-old Stephanos Kokkinos from Yeroskipou said at the Paphis recruitment centre in Anarita.

“I feel very proud to have responded when my country called me,” added 18-year-old Alexis Papavasilis.

“I am here to carry out my duty for Cyprus, which I will do with great sense of responsibility and emotion,” new recruit Panayiotis Kyriakou added.

A banner at the Nicosia camp said: “New conscripts, the family of the National Guard welcomes you and wishes you a good service.”