Defence minister sworn in, promises to strengthen national guard

New Defence Minister Michalis Giorgallas said on Friday he aims to make citizens feel “safe and secure” against any foreign aggression.

Giorgallas was speaking during the handover ceremony of the Ministry of Defence from his predecessor, Charalambos Petrides, which took place in the presence of the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Andreas Loukas, Chief of the National Guard Demokritos Zervakis, and military personnel from the defence ministry.

He said he is proud and honoured to take over the portfolio of the defence ministry which is “of exceptional importance, as it is mandated to defend the national independence, territorial integrity, and sovereign rights of Cyprus.”

Then, he pledged that he will do the utmost “to be worthy of the president’s expectations and trust.”

Addressing the families of young men serving in the National Guard he told them that “their children from today are also my children.”

“My goal is for our fellow citizens to feel safe and secure. To feel that our National Guard is reliable and strong against any foreign aggression,” he pointed out.

My primary objective, he added, is the need to increase and strengthen the deterrent force, fighting capacity and readiness of the National Guard with the supply of new modern weapon systems.

“We must work tirelessly together to build the strong defence that our country needs” with mutual respect and cooperation, added the new minister.

On his part, outgoing minister Petrides said that in the last two and a half years, he remained faithful to what his conscience dictated and that he worked for the implementation of President Nicos Anastasiades’ administration programme.

He noted that the main objective was the orderly operation, modernisation and upgrading of the National Guard, always keeping in mind the supreme task of safeguarding the territorial integrity and sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus.

In the framework of the strategic policy “we have achieved many and important things. We strengthened the existing ones and established new ties in the field of defence cooperation of the Republic of Cyprus with other states, with the aim of creating conditions of security, peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean,” Petrides said.