On Friday 24 March 2023, the Minister of National Defence Mr Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos met with the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus Mr Mihail Giorgallas, who paid his first official visit after taking office.

Following the official welcoming, the Minister of National Defence participated in the delegations’ discussions in “Ioannis Kapodistrias” Conference Room, which were also attended by the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff General Konstantinos Floros, the Chief of Hellenic Air Force General Staff Lieutenant General Themistoklis Bourolias, the Chief of Hellenic Army General Staff Lieutenant General Aggelos Choudeloudis, the Deputy Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff Rear Admiral Konstantinos Vlahos, as well as the Chief of the National Guard General Staff Lieutenant General Dimokritos Zervakis.

During the discussions of the two Ministers, the importance of the strong, everlasting brotherly ties between Greece and Cyprus and their strategic defence relation, for the Security and the Defence of the two countries and the stability and welfare of the wider region, was reaffirmed.

Following the private meeting between Mr Panagiotopoulos and Mr Giorgallas, statements were made to Military Journalists, at the HMoND Press Room:

NIKOLAOS PANAGIOTOPOULOS: Minister, dear Mihalis, it is a great pleasure and honour to welcome you here today at the Ministry of National Defence, during your first official visit to Greece, after taking office as Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus.

So, I would like to congratulate you and wish you strength, success in your work and achievement of all your goals.

During our discussions today, we stressed our strong will to cooperate and deepen even more our bilateral defence cooperation and coordination, thus reinforcing the brotherly and strategic relation between Greece and Cyprus and our wider cooperations as well, both in the context of the European Union and with other countries that constitute our strategic partners.

We also confirmed, once more, the congruence of Athens and Nicosia, the common goals we have set for our defence cooperation, having as a principle the national rights and the strategy for the effective defence of the sovereignty and our sovereign rights.

Furthermore, we discussed the progress of the cooperation between our armed forces, where we systematically pursue and we will continue even more systematically to pursue the reinforcement of their interoperability.

I would also like to express my satisfaction for the especially positive results of our cooperation in the field of the European defence initiatives, where our countries participate in the programs of a permanent structured cooperation, the so-called PESCO programmes, as well as in many cooperative programmes financed by the European Defence Fund.

The war in Ukraine and the unstable geopolitical environment dictates the intensification of our cooperation even more, since the revisionism, the questioning of the international borders and the outrageous violation of International Law makes imperative more than ever both the reinforcement of our alliance and the close coordination regarding the cooperation with our partners.

Greece, as well as Cyprus, keeps a steady position and it has built its National Defence and Security Strategy in International Law and its respect to the good neighbourly relations.

With Minister Giorgallas, we discussed the security situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and the common challenges and threats we face.

So, I would like to repeat once more today that from the first moment since the catastrophic earthquake on 6 February in Turkey, we showed our compassion to the Turkish people and I would also like to stress the tangible contribution of Greece, as it should be.

We are always in favour of the good neighbourly relations and we welcome the projected de-escalation of tension in the region. Of course, I hope, although I have some reservations, that this de-escalation will be continued and maintained in the future and thus constitute the beginning of a new era in the relations of the two countries, as well as the beginning of an essential dialogue, based of course and above all on International Law.

Minister, dear Mihalis, your visit today gave us the opportunity to confirm the outstanding results of our defence cooperation and set new goals for the reinforcement of the Greece-Cyprus uniform and unbroken front, in order to defend our national interests.

Greece and Cyprus, Cyprus and Greece, will always be at the forefront, as pillars of stability and as reliable and consistent partners to promote security, stability and welfare in our wider region, always having as a solid foundation the brotherly strategic relation between our two countries.

Welcome to Greece.

MIHALIS GIORGALLAS: Minister of the National Defence of Greece, dear friend Nikos, it is a special honour for me to pay my first official visit to Athens, since I took office.

Thank you for the warm welcome and the extremely essential consultations we had. The everlasting unbroken relations between Cyprus and Greece constitute the foundation for our superb defence and military cooperation.

Our countries, jointly, with full understanding, continue to constitute the pillars of peace, security, stability, development and welfare, in the troubled geopolitical environment of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The recent decision of the President of the Republic of Cyprus and of the Prime Minister of Greece to establish a Supreme Intergovernmental Cooperation Council is an important step of reinforcing our coordination.

Our pursuit is, among other things, the reinforcement of consultation structures on matters of defence policy, interstate cooperations and coordination for the specification of common goals and strategy regarding serious issues.

In this context, we decided to activate the decision to establish a Political Consultant, aiming to perform the first meeting of the two sides the soonest possible to prepare specific proposals.

We further discussed the development of the trilateral cooperation forms, France’s quadruple initiative with Italy and we have set our common goals for each one of them.

Our countries are attractive partners for defence cooperation and this is because Cyprus and Greece project a policy of outreach and self-confidence. In cooperation matters in the context of the European Union, we realised the especially high cooperation level in fields of European capabilities development, through the programmes of PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) and the European Defence Fund.

We will continue on this path, exploiting new perspectives, appearing both out of the programme of military equipment joint procurement and the arising matters, like the handling of climate change in the field of defence and energy viability of the Armed Forces.

We also had an extremely productive exchange of views for the defence cooperation that Cyprus and Greece have developed with the U.S. and Cyprus aims at further deepening its cooperation with the U.S., especially after the full lifting of weapons embargo and our imminent accession to the “State Department Program” with New Jersey’s National Guard.

Minister, on behalf of the government of Cyprus, I would like to repeat that we will continue to work tirelessly together to achieve everything we pursue for our countries and the wider region.

Turkey, disregarding its obligations towards the Republic of Cyprus and International Law, unfortunately dynamites with anachronistic ideas and maximalist requests the hopes of resolving the issue of Cyprus, based on the principles and values of the European Union.

To this direction, as our President Nikos Christodoulidis repeatedly stated, the more active involvement of the European Union will constitute a decisive factor to surpass the dead-end and restart the negotiations.

Cyprus and Greece, Greece and Cyprus, in cooperation with our partners in the European Union, remain steadily devoted to the defence of our sovereign rights and fundamental values of freedom and democracy, as our ancestors did.

On the occasion of the 25 March anniversary tomorrow, I wish to all the Greeks and the Greeks abroad happy anniversary.

Thank you.

LEONIDAS BLAVERIS: I wanted to ask if in the referred context there is the potential in the near future to see weapons from Greece being dispatched to Cyprus with the blessings of the Americans, in the first stage…

MIHALIS GIORGALLAS: You realise that our plans regarding our armaments programmes cannot be released this way. The cooperation of Cyprus and Greece will be strengthened and Cyprus hopes that Greece also understands that it is obligated to Cyprus and of course, the Hellenes in Cyprus, and this I conveyed to our meeting, thanking for this support, for this concern and aid that Greece has transferred to Cyprus over time.

NIKOLAOS PANAGIOTOPOULOS: In the context though of intensification of cooperation between the two Defence Ministries, I would like to add to those correctly stated by the Minister, that we put on the table matters concerning the better coordination in armaments issues in a general framework.

What this future might bring, we will see; surely a lot of opportunities will arise.

Thank you.