Larnaka: As long as our homeland is under occupation, the substantive strengthening of its deterrence power of our armed forces is our obligation, President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides has said. The President, accompanied by Minister of Defence Vassilis Palmas and Chief of the National Guard Lieutenant General Emmanuel Theodorou, visited Tuesday the Larnaka Recruit Training Centre, on the occasion of the Christmas and New Year holidays, wishing officers, soldiers and their families Merry Christmas, expressing his pride in the National Guard.
According to Cyprus News Agency, President Christodoulides underlined that "as long as our homeland is under occupation, the substantive strengthening of the deterrent force is our obligation. An obligation that we fulfill daily". Cyprus, he added, being a member of the EU will assume on the first of January the Presidency of the Council of the EU and noted that the issues of defence and security are among its priorities.
One of the reasons, he said, that efforts are being made to continuously upgrade the deterrent power of the National Guard, is the geographical region. "We are in a region of particular geostrategic importance, which has many challenges and our country is obliged, always as part of the solutions and never part of the problems, as we have proven in practice, to strengthen the National Guard."
The President referred to his meeting in Israel yesterday with the Prime Minister of Israel and the Prime Minister of Greece saying that defence and security issues were very high in the discussions. They decided, he added, to move forward with more joint exercises between the three countries but also at a bilateral level.
"We discussed armaments issues, strengthening deterrence through and from the armaments market is our main priority. And within this framework, our effort to utilize the almost 1.2 billion euros that has been given to us through the European Union's financial instrument, SAFE, is also taking place". He noted that they also agreed on the creation of synergies between companies, Israeli companies for the defence industry, "but also the very promising Cypriot defence industry, so that through synergies we can achieve joint productions".
The President said that the investment in the National Guard begins through the investment in the human resources of the National Guard, in the working conditions, the benefits, etc, saying that the government has been making efforts from the very beginning to strengthen all the above issues. Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the event, the President of the Republic met with the only woman who is doing military service in the National Guard, expressing great pride in the fact that she enlisted. The President of the Republic spoke with her, asking her about her experience in the National Guard and what she would advise other women. The young woman responded that she would advise other women to enlist as well.
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.