Minister of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Kasoulides discussed on Thursday the proposal by King Abdullah II of Jordan for the creation of a regional airborne firefighting centre in his meeting with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, during the latter’s visit to Cyprus.
In statements to journalists on Friday, Kasoulides said that the King of Jordan has proposed the creation of a centre where planes from countries in the region would be stationed, which would be called upon wherever forest fires occur, not only in Cyprus, but also in other neighbouring countries, such as Israel and Lebanon.
“It will be a good way of cooperation, which we also mentioned during the trilateral meeting, in the presence of Mr. Blinken,” he said. Responding to reporters on other contacts in order to meet the needs for fire-fighting equipment, he said that the Republic of Cyprus intends to approach Palestine for cooperation in this field.
“I think that with the firefighting plane that Greece has promised to bring, which will be based in Cyprus, the assistance of Israel, the two helicopters that Jordan has proposed and with ours, we will have a forest firefighting fleet”, Kasoulides concluded.
Source: Cyprus News Agency