Security relations between Greece and Cyprus

Greece and Cyprus have agreed to establish a body for defense consultations. The defense ministers of the two countries, Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos and Michalis Yorgallas, during talks in the Greek capital on Friday, reaffirmed the strategic nature of their security relations and agreed to implement the decision to establish a political body for consultations in the field of military cooperation.

According to the press service of the Greek Defense Ministry, Mr. Yorgallas made his first official visit after taking office. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos noted:

“During today’s talks, we underlined the firm will to cooperation, its further deepening, to coordination in the field of defense, thereby strengthening the brotherly and strategic relations between Greece and Cyprus. As well as interaction both within the European Union and with other countries that “are our strategic partners. We also reaffirmed the common approaches of Athens and Nicosia, the common goals that we have set for our defense cooperation based on the strategy of effective defense of sovereignty and sovereign rights.”

According to the Greek minister, during the meeting, they also discussed strengthening the operational compatibility of the actions of the units of the armed forces of the two countries. Mr. Yorgallas, in turn, recalled the recent decision of Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to establish a Supreme Council for Intergovernmental Cooperation in order to strengthen coordination between the two countries:

“Our goal is to strengthen consultation structures on defense policy, interstate cooperation and coordination to determine common goals and strategies on serious topics. In this context, we decided to implement the decision to establish a political body for consultations with the aim of holding the first meeting of the two sides to prepare as soon as possible specific proposals.

According to the Cypriot Minister of Defense, were discussed trilateral cooperation schemes and a quadripartite initiative involving France and Italy, the objectives for work in each of them are defined:

“Particularly productive was the exchange of views on the defense cooperation that Cyprus and Greece have established with the United States. Cyprus is committed to further deepening its cooperation with the United States, especially after the complete lifting of the arms embargo and our forthcoming joining of the state partnership program with the National Guard New Jersey”.

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