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A warm welcome to you and your
esteemed delegation.
Thank you for your visit which
constitutes a milestone in our bilateral defence cooperation.
Your presence is a watershed
moment as we have embarked in pursuing the further advancement of our
bilateral defence cooperation.
Though not so widely known, our
two countries have a long-standing defence cooperation through the facilities
offered by the Republic of Cyprus to the German UNIFIL Maritime Task Force
contingent which is based in Cyprus since 2006.
We will continue to support you
in this important deployment for the fulfilment of the mission's mandate for
ensuring maritime security in the area.
Turning to our meeting, we had
very constructive discussions in an array of issues ranging from tangible
ways for enhancing our defence collaboration and pertinent issues of European
and regional security.
Our countries have only to gain
through their collaboration. It comes at a time when the rules based
international order is questioned and revisionist powers are on the rise.
The effects of the illegal
Russian invasion to Ukraine are more than visible and affect all of us. We
discussed the EU's response and support given to Ukraine through our
policies, including the establishment of the new CSDP Military Assistance
Mission, for which Germany has a leading role.
I also had the opportunity to
brief the German Minister of Defence for the continuing illegal Turkish
military occupation in Cyprus and Ankara's destabilising role and revisionist
policy vis-à-vis Cyprus and neighbouring countries including the
instrumentalisation of migration.
I want to express my
appreciation to the German Minister of Defence for sharing a forward-looking
approach for developing our bilateral cooperation both in terms of
institutional framework and military to military cooperation.
It is important that EU member
states seek to advance their bilateral defence agenda for ensuring European
security and prosperity.
We also have opportunities for
cooperation within the EU framework such as in the various European defence
initiates for the development and procurement of armaments and capabilities,
thus strengthening the European defence industrial base.
To that end we will work
jointly for fostering a robust and long-term bilateral defence cooperation
with Germany which will be based on the principles of international law and
the promotion of our European values.
I want to note that earlier
this year we signed our first ever bilateral defence cooperation programme
and last month we have posted a Defence Attaché at our Embassy in Berlin.
These steps will ensure that our cooperation will be developed in a sustained
manner in the immediate future.
With today's visit and our
in-depth consultations our cooperation receives new impetus and momentum for
working together for addressing mutual threats and harnessing new
opportunities.
Once again, thank you very much
for your visit and I look forward to continuing our discussions in the coming
weeks and months.
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