By Chaitali Bag
Nicosia, Cyprus/ Athens,Greece. 13 July 2021.The Cyprus Ministry of Defense is all set to participate for the first time with a national pavilion at DEFEA 2021 in Athens from today.
The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Cyprus, investing in the strengthening of Bilateral Relations, has developed cooperation in areas of common interest both with countries in the region and with many European and other countries and Greece is its most important friend and ally.
Nine Cypriot companies, part of the emerging research and innovation ecosystem, are participating in the national stand, which are active in the field of defense and security through competitive European programs. It is noted that Cyprus participates in 9 capacity building programs under the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and in 8 programs under the European Defense Industry Development Program (EDIDP).
The participation of the members of its Armed Forces in joint exercises and training programs in Cyprus or abroad with Greece as well as various exchanges of visits of officials of the Ministries of Defense and the Armed Forces of Cyprus with this neighbour are an important development and success of Defense Diplomacy as and at the same time the operational readiness of EF is strengthened.
At the same time, based on its Defense Policy, the Ministry of Defense has developed Tripartite Cooperations aiming at promoting peace, stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean. As a result, Tripartite Cooperation Programs for Cyprus-Greece-Israel, Cyprus-Greece-Egypt and Cyprus-Greece-Armenia have been established, while collaborations with other neighboring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon are also planned. The tripartite cooperation programs include joint exercises and trainings between the Armed Forces of the 3 countries, but without excluding the participation of more countries.
The International Fair will be visited by the Minister of Defense Mr. Charalambos Petridis, the Chief of the National Guard Lieutenant General Democritus Zervakis and the General Director of the Ministry Mr. Andreas Loukas.
During his presence at the International Fair, the Minister of Defense will participate in a round table discussion with his counterparts from Greece, Portugal and Slovenia, on the European defense industry.
The Minister of Defense will also hold a number of bilateral meetings with the Minister of Defense of Greece, Slovenia and the Executive Director of the European Defense Agency.
