Nicosia: Cyprus and Greece are pillars of security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, the two countries’ Defence Ministers, Vasilis Palmas and Nikos Dendias, said after their meeting at the Ministry of Defence in Nicosia on Wednesday.
According to Cyprus News Agency, Palmas noted that he discussed with his counterpart a wide range of issues including the security situation in the Republic of Cyprus, the actions of the Ministry of Defence to deepen relations with friendly countries and other actors in the region. He added that international developments were also discussed, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine, the geopolitical situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, as well as the latest developments in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria.
At the same time, Palmas said that he briefed his Greek counterpart on the efforts that the Republic of Cyprus is making to resume the process of talks for the settlement of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
He added that he had been briefed by the Greek Minister on the development of the European Union’s naval operation “ASPIDES”, calling it “an action that enhances the safety of navigation, ensures free access to trade routes and contributes to the de-escalation of tensions in the Red Sea”.
He noted that the Republic of Cyprus is actively participating in this mission with 2 officers at the operational headquarters in Larissa, “demonstrating our commitment to joint European efforts to defend peace and security”.
On his part, Nikos Dendias said that the excellent bilateral defence relations were discussed, while on the Cyprus issue, he reiterated Greece’s firm position in favour of the Republic of Cyprus’ efforts for a just, balanced and viable solution within the given framework of the UN resolutions and the European acquis. At the same time, he underlined that Greece’s participation as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during these two years provides an opportunity.
Referring to the naval operation “ASPIDES”, Dendias pointed out that it is an operation “which has a Greek name, precisely to underline the role that Greece played in launching this operation”. “Greece and Cyprus are pillars of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, both bilaterally and multilaterally, through the many schemes in which we participate,” he noted.
The Greek Defence Minister welcomed the decision taken by the US to grant the Republic of Cyprus access to US defence programmes, expressing the belief that “this development has a real, but also a highly symbolic value”.
He also expressed his agreement with his Cypriot counterpart’s reference to the creation of a defence arm of the European Union, adding, however, that “for this to happen, Europe must finally decide to allocate more resources and also must change yesterday, not today or tomorrow, the budgetary rules regarding defence spending.”
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.