Defence Redefined

Published on 07/06/2021 at 08:30

On Sunday June 06, 2021 and Monday June 07, 2021, the Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Democritus Zervakis, accompanied by a small delegation and the Defence Attaché of the Republic of Cyprus, visited Egypt following the invitation of the Egyptian Chief of Armed Forces.

During his visit, the Chief met the Egyptian Defence Minister, General Mohamed Zaki, the Egyptian Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid Hegazy. Today, a meeting will be held with His Beatitude The Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All of Africa, Theodore II.

More specifically, yesterday Sunday June 06, 2021, the Chief of the Armed Forces was officially received by the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid Hegazy at the Ministry of Defence in Cairo. During his meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, the current developments in the Eastern Mediterranean region were discussed as well as issues of common interest related to security and stability in the wider region. In addition, they exchanged views on the Bilateral and Multilateral Defence Cooperation Programs and in particular on the participation of the Armed Forces of the two countries in joint exercises in the near future. 

Lieutenant General Zervakis pointed out that in addition to the excellent relations between the two countries, which date back to the founding of the Republic of Cyprus, the relations of the Armed Forces have been recently upgraded. The recent participation in MEDOUSA exercise and the corresponding PASSEX, as well as the visits of both countries’ staffs at various levels are tangible proof of this upgrade. He also referred to the wide range of international military cooperation in which the National Guard participates, actively contributing to the common goal of consolidating security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. In addition, he noted the constructive role played by the Republic of Cyprus and Egypt in the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the wider region.

In the above context, actions such as joint training and exercises in the territory of both countries were discussed with the aim of further deepening the cooperation.  

In addition to the meetings with the hierarchy of the Egyptian Armed Forces, the Chief had a private meeting with the Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to Egypt, Mr. Homer Mavrommatis, while he laid a wreath at the monument of the Unknown Soldier in Cairo and the monument of the assassinated president, Anwar Sadat.     

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