According to the General Staff of the National Guard (GEEF), the Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Democritus Zervakis, was invited to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from February 20-23, 2021. The Chief was accompanied by Director of Defence Planning, Lieutenant Colonel Houvartas Marios.

The visit took place on the occasion of the International Defence Exhibition, IDEX and NAVDEX 2021, as well as the International Defence Conference, IDC 2021, which are held at the Abu Dhabi International Exhibition Center, under the auspices of the Crown Prince of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Chief of the National Guard was officially invited by the Chief of General Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Hamad Mohammed Thani Al Rumaithi.

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On Saturday, February 20, 2021 the Chief of the National Guard attended – as an honorary guest – the International Defence Conference IDC 2021. There, he had the opportunity to meet and exchange views with other honorary guests.

On the same day, he had a private meeting with the Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Ioannis Michailidis, with whom he exchanged views.

On Sunday, February 21, 2021, Lieutenant General Zervakis attended the opening ceremony of the IDEX & NAVDEX 2021 Exhibitions, which was honored by the presence of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who personally welcomed everyone.

He then had a formal meeting with the Chief of the General Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Hamad Mohammed Thani Al Rumaithi. During the meeting, in a very sincere and cordial atmosphere, the common will for the signing and implementation of an upgraded Military Cooperation Program signed by the Ministers of Defence of the two countries was expressed. At the same time, the common challenges were identified and the importance of this cooperation, as a starting point for the development of a long-term, lasting, strong and strategic relationship between the Special Forces of the two countries – contributing to the development and consolidation of security in the wider region – was underlined.

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On the same day, the Chief of the National Guard had a meeting with the Chief of the Jordanian Armed Forces, General Yousef Huneit. There, following a very broad discussion, the security challenges in the region and the will to implement the existing bilateral and multilateral military cooperation program were addressed. At the same time, the delegation of the National Guard toured the exhibition space and was informed about the developments in the defence industry

On February 23, the Chief of the National Guard arranged to meet the Chief of the UAE Navy, Rear Admiral Sheikh Saeed bin Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, and the Chief of the Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Ibrahim Nassar Mohammed Al Alawi. As part of the NAVDEX 2021 exhibition, he also went to the Abu Dhabi port where he saw the Greek “HYDRA” frigate.

Within the framework of the Exhibition, the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the National Guard had a private meeting with the Greek Minister of Defence, Mr. Nikos Panagiotopoulos, and the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Floros Konstantinos at the Greek Pavilion.

Finally, the Chief gave an interview to the exhibition’s official defence magazine “Nation Shield”. In the interview, after praising the organization of the conference and the exhibition in the midst of a pandemic, the Chief stated that the geopolitical developments in the wider region call for joint and sincere collaborations. In this context, he stated that the Armed Forces of Cyprus and the UAE face common challenges and share a common vision, while the presence of the delegation in the exhibition aims to contribute to the consolidation of this cooperation.

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