The strengthening of the military capabilities and infrastructure of the Republic of Cyprus is necessary, stressed the Minister of Defense Vassilis Palmas, speaking today at the "Andreas Papandreou" Air Base in Paphos where the official Air Force Day took place.
Mr. Palmas spoke of an ever-changing security environment and increased geopolitical challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean, which makes the continuous strengthening of the military capabilities of the Republic of Cyprus necessary. In this context, he stressed, the Ministry is promoting a series of measures and initiatives, both through the armament program of the Republic of Cyprus and through the European SAFE program, with the aim of acquiring modern systems and strengthening the country's defense capabilities.
The competent minister announced that the upgrade and modernization of the "Andreas Papandreou" Air Base, as well as the Naval Base in Mari, is progressing, with the aim of improving operational readiness and more effective support for air and naval missions. These upgrades, he stressed, not only serve to strengthen the defense capability of the Republic of Cyprus, but also contribute more broadly to the security and stability of the Eastern Mediterranean, through the strengthening of defense cooperation and the provision of facilities to Cyprus' partners in the region.
The Minister of Defense also underlined that these collaborations also have an important humanitarian dimension, as they include search and rescue operations, the provision of humanitarian assistance and operations to evacuate civilians from war zones.
Asked during the celebrations at the air base and about the possibility of demining as part of the developments in the Cyprus problem, Vassilis Palmas described the issue as highly political and dependent on the developments and discussions that will take place for progress on the Cyprus problem.
Also referring to his meeting with his French counterpart, Catherine Votrin, the Cypriot Minister of Defense noted that France is currently the strongest country in Europe and essentially leads Europe, underlining the importance of bilateral relations in the defense and political sectors.
In the context of the meeting, he stressed, the two sides agreed on the next steps of their cooperation, which include issues of training, exercises, mutual information on geopolitical issues concerning the region, as well as armament programs.
Demining is a political issue
Regarding the issue of demining, Vassilis Palmas described it as "highly political". He also noted that "depending on the developments and discussions that will take place in the Cyprus problem, the Government will also adapt its policy to issues that have a military nature."
"At the moment we are talking, I have nothing to add around this issue," he added, while expressing the hope that there will be a positive development in the talks. "I hope that the talks will develop well and that conditions and such data will be created that encourage a meaningful dialogue to begin and we will see these individual issues," he said.
