The Chief of Cyprus National Guard, Lieutenant General Dimokritos Zervakis and his Egyptian counterpart, Lieutenant General Osama Roshdy Askar, reaffirmed on Thursday the “mutually strong” will to further deepen the strategic relationship between the Armed Forces of the two countries to address common challenges.
Zervakis had a meeting with Askar in the framework of the National Guard Chief’s visit to Egypt to monitor the Multinational Exercise “MEDUSA 12/2022”, an announcement said, adding that the two Chiefs, did an initial assessment of the exercise, noting the “excellent” planning and execution by the personnel of the four participating countries, as well as “the steadily increasing interest” of other, friendly countries to join. They also recognised the contribution of both exercise MEDUSA and other similar international exercises to regional security and stability, it added.
Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East were also discussed, as well as issues that touch more broadly on global and regional security and stability, such as the situation in Ukraine and in Libya.
According to the statement, there was a review of the progress of the implementation of the Bilateral Defence Cooperation Programme as well as the corresponding Tripartite with Greece for the current year as well as an extensive exchange of views regarding the actions planned to be included in the respective programmes for 2023, the conclusion of which is in its final stage.
Zervakis and Askar, also noted the intention for expanding their cooperation of the two Armed Forces in other sectors.
According to the announcement, the meeting of the two Armed Forces Chiefs is a continuation of the high-level bilateral contacts at the civil-military level between the Republic of Cyprus and Egypt, as well as the corresponding tripartite contacts with Greece. It also confirms, it adds, “the excellent relations and multi-level strategic cooperation” between the two countries based on the principles and rules of international law and the common vision and goal of effective management of security challenges through bilateral and multilateral cooperation as well as preserving peace and stability in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.
Source: Cyprus News Agency