One woman presented herself to begin voluntary military service in the National Guard on Friday, the day designated for female volunteers to report for duty, National Guard spokesman Christos Pieris said.

He told the Cyprus News Agency that of the two women who had formally expressed interest in voluntary service, one arrived at the Limassol basic training centre at around 9am.

She was then processed and will soon decide on the unit in which she will serve and be trained.

Last month, Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas said the government had “no illusions” over the level of interest which will be shown by women in the offer of voluntary military service in the National Guard.

“We have no illusions that there will be a lot of interest, but our priority this year at least was to provide the opportunity through legislation for women, if they wish, to enlist, and this creates better conditions for gender equality,” he said after cabinet approved the decree to open the way to allow women to serve voluntarily.

Despite this, he said, the move to allow women to voluntarily list “signals a new era for the National Guard”.

“Defence and security are collective matters, to which every citizen must have and has the right to contribute equally,” he said, adding that the decision to allow women to enlist “recognises the role and the right of women to actively participate in the defence of the Republic of Cyprus”.

He said women who enlist will serve between six and 14 months, with six months’ service the minimum amount for it to be considered that one has “completed” her military service.

The initial bill to allow women to serve voluntarily in the National Guard was approved by cabinet in February, before being passed into law by parliament in April.

President Nikos Christodoulides hailed the idea at the time, describing it as a “pivotal moment” for both the National Guard and for Cyprus at large.

“This decision enhances the readiness of the National Guard while granting women the same right to serve in military service, reinforcing the idea that the responsibility for the country’s security is collective,” he said.

Not everyone was convinced by the idea, however, with Skevi Koukouma, leader of women’s organisation Pogo, telling the Cyprus Mail that the move “smacks of warmongering” and is “odd”.

“The army is the last place where equality can be enforced,” she said, arguing that women can contribute to society in other ways than joining the armed forces.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot opposition party CTP ‘MP’ Dogus Derya said women should be invited to sit at the Cyprus problem negotiating table, not to join the armed forces.

“Cypriot women have been striving for equal and effective female participation in the negotiating process since the beginning of the 2000s. If Christodoulides wants women to contribute to their country more equally, he should invite our Greek Cypriot sisters to the negotiating table, not the army,” she said.

Women have been allowed to take up employment in the National Guard as contracted officers since 1990, with these female officers being recruited after being accepted into military school in Greece without serving as conscripts.