Minister of Defense, Charalambos Petrides, referred on Saturday to six pillars outlining the strategic pursuits vis-a-vis efforts to strengthen the country’s defense and security. During a speech at a conference of the Cyprus Reserve Officers’ Association, in Nicosia, Petrides stated that, for as long as the northern part of Cyprus is under Turkish occupation, the National Guard must continue to reinforce its deterrent capability .
Outlining the six pillars, he said that the first one pertains to the reinforcement of the National Guard’s operational capability, while the second pillar is about reinforcing defense cooperation with other countries, through bilateral, trilateral and quadripartite agreements with more than 15 states. Among others, he underlined the importance of having an upgraded cooperation with the USA, as well as other countries.
The third pillar, he continued, includes actions, plans and implementation of innovative reforms, within the framework of 17 programs of the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) and the European Defense Fund (EDF). Improvements on the legislation tackling draft evasion, which has been contained at 1.8%, are according to the Minister included in the fourth pillar.
The fifth pillar aims to an enhance the performance of financial resources and the Ministry’s budget, Petrides went on, while the sixth pillar is associated with the Environmental and Energy Policies of the Ministry, aiming to contain the operational expenses of the National Guard, through the use of Renewable Energy Sources.
Source: Cyprus News Agency