*Christos Loizou

At the press conference held today, Friday, April 5, at the Ministry of Defence, Defence Minister, Mr. Vassilis Palmas, referred, among other things, to the international defence cooperation of the Republic of Cyprus with friendly countries.

The Minister of Defence stated that the tripartite defence cooperation between Serbia, Greece and Cyprus is underway. This statement comes a few days after the visit of the Chief of the Armed Forces of Serbia to Cyprus.

A Greece-Cyprus-Serbia Tripartite Cooperation Program has been concluded in the past, in the context of which various activities were carried out, among them the “FALCON – SOFEX 2021” exercise in Redina. The latter took place with the participation of a special operations group of the National Guard Special Forces. The ongoing tripartite defence cooperation is expected to renew and strengthen this arrangement.

At this point, it is recalled that Cyprus and Greece maintain tripartite defence cooperation with Armenia, Israel, Egypt and Jordan.

*Photo from the visit of the Chief of the Armed Forces of Serbia to Cyprus on April 1, 2024.

Also, the Minister of Defence referred to the cooperation with Greece, for which, as he mentioned, more solid foundations have been laid after the 1st Intergovernmental Summit of Greece – Cyprus in November 2023. Following this, meetings are held on a frequent basis at the level of Defence Ministers alongside contacts between officials from both Ministries. The Minister also referred to the signing of an Agreement with the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) to carry out a preliminary study for the expansion of the “Evangelos Florakis” Naval Base in Mari.

The Minister of Defence stated that international cooperation in the field of defence strengthens the extroversion of the Republic of Cyprus through defence diplomacy, while through joint training with the Armed Forces of third countries, the National Guard personnel gain important experience and knowledge.

Special mention was also made of the cooperation with the USA and the inclusion of the National Guard in the State Partnership Program (SPP) of the US Department of Defence – with the National Guard of New Jersey as a partner – as well as the signing of the Joint Declaration of Intent with Germany.

*Cover Photo from exercise “FALCON – SOFEX 2021” in the context of the Greece – Cyprus – Serbia Tripartite Cooperation Program 2021.

Also read: «FALCON – SOFEX 2021» | Cyprus Special Forces participate special operations exercise with Greece and Serbia