Cyprus and Greece strengthen defence cooperation in ministerial meeting

The strengthening of bilateral defence and military cooperation between Cyprus and Greece was the focus of a meeting between the defence ministers of the two countries on Thursday.

This is the first official visit of Greek Minister of Defence Nikos Dendias in Cyprus since taking office.

Speaking at a press conference after their meeting at the Ministry of Defence, Michalis Giorgallas, first made reference to the untimely loss of 20-year-old Cypriot soldier Giorgos Hadjionna during his second year at the Evelpidon military school in Greece with Dendias expressing his condolences.

Addressing his Greek counterpart, Giorgallas referred to the establishment of the Supreme Council for Intergovernmental Cooperation, in conjunction with the activation of the political body for the consultation of the Ministries of Defence on cooperation issues. Those initiatives, he said, will “further deepen ties, strengthening the structures of consultation and coordination and address every common challenge and threat”.

He added that the common goal is also to continue trilateral and multilateral regional defence formations and to broaden the scope of issues of common interest on issues such as cyber defence and climate change.

Through cooperation, he said, the two countries have succeeded in playing a key role in the Eastern Mediterranean region and have become attractive partners and reliable collaborators at regional, European, and international levels.

Giorgalles also mentioned the new EU policies for joint defence equipment procurement programmes and Cyprus’ recent participation in the Mistral missile joint programme with France and other EU states.

He then noted how “the Turkish military occupation remains the main threat and therefore we cannot be complacent.” As the Republic of Cyprus “we remainlaw,eadfastly committed to defending our sovereign rights, international law and the fundamental values of the EU”.

“Greece is our constant and selfless supporter,” he declared.

For his part, Nikos Dendias first assured that the deepening of the relationship between the two countries and defence cooperation is an absolute priority.

Referring to their talks today, Dendias said they confirmed their strong will to deepen and broaden coordination, both bilaterally and at the level of the EU, allies and friends. He said they discussed where concrete and practical steps could be taken and how to expand the interoperability of the armed forces of the two countries.

Among the issues, the two ministers discussed the broader security situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and lessons learned from that conflict. Dendias noted that Cyprus and Greece are on the side of international law.

In this context, Greece will continue its full support for the achievement of a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem, the Greek minister stressed.

“For us, Cyprus is not far away,” he said, adding that “Greece and Cyprus will always stand together, as bastions of stability, security and peace in our region.”