An official visit to Israel was made from March 21-24 by the Director General of the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Andreas Loukas, who was accompanied by a delegation of Ministry officials, at the invitation of Director General of SIBAT, Yair Kulas. During his visit, Mr. Loukas had a meeting with the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defence, Mr. Amir Eshel.

Mr. Loukas’s contacts reaffirmed the importance of the bilateral defence cooperation between Cyprus and Israel, discussed security challenges in the wider region and the prospects for further deepening the cooperation between the two Ministries, both with joint training programs and armament programs.

In particular, in the meeting with the Director of the Directorate of International Defence Cooperation of the Ministry of Defence of Israel, in-depth discussions were held on issues of cooperation in the field of Armaments and Research and Development.

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The Cypriot delegation also visited companies in the Israeli defence industry in order to be informed in detail about their capabilities and to discuss common areas of interest and prospects for cooperation.

Prior to its departure, the Cypriot delegation visited the Yad Vashem Monument, where the Director General laid a wreath paying tribute to the Holocaust victims and signed the book of visitors.

On the same day, the Cypriot delegation visited the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Church of the Resurrection, where the General Director of the Defence Ministry had a private meeting with the Blessed Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III. After greeting the Cypriot delegation, the Patriarch gave his blessing to the personnel of the Ministry of Defence, wishing justice to Cyprus.

Source: MoD

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