Today, Wednesday 30 September 2026, the Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, met with the Archbishop of Nea Ioustiniani and All Cyprus Georgios during his visit to Nicosia to attend the celebrations for the 66th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Cyprus.
In this meeting, which took place at the Archbishop’s Palace, Mr. Dendias was accompanied by the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitrios Choupis, and the Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to Nicosia Konstantinos Kollias.
After their meeting, the Greek Minister and the Archbishop of Cyprus made the following statements:
JOURNALIST: Every time Mr. Dendias visits Cyprus, he never misses the opportunity to visit you, Your Beatitude. What did you discuss today? Do you think we are going through critical times, as a result of the latest developments?
ARCHBISHOP OF CYPRUS GEORGIOS: I would like to thank him for visiting the Archdiocese every time he comes to Cyprus. He has great respect for the Church and we are connected by a long friendship. We exchange views on matters of mutual interest.
He, due to his duties, studies the Defence of Cyprus and Greece. Mainly Greece, but we also hope our own. We also need a word of support, that Greece is close to us and that, when a part of Hellenism is in danger, it has the support of the entire Hellenism. We thank him for everything.
NIKOS DENDIAS: My visit is not merely a typical ceremonial visit or a visit to pay respects to the Archbishop, whom I love and consider my friend. I consider it my deepest obligation to express to the Archbishop, the Church of Cyprus, and Cypriot Hellenism my most heartfelt thanks and gratitude. Because the Church of Cyprus helps our Armed Forces. The Archbishop’s latest contribution – and it’s not the only one – is the renovation of the great and architecturally emblematic auditorium of the Hellenic Military Academy, the academy that trains the new leaders of the Army of both Greece and the Cypriot National Guard. So the Archbishop is not a man of supporting words only; he contributes to the national effort with actions. It is always a pleasure, as well as a blessing for me to see him whenever I come to Cyprus. And of course it is always a great pleasure to have him in the Motherland.
ARCHBISHOP OF CYPRUS GEORGIOS: I should also add, at this point, that it is our obligation to contribute whenever the Motherland requests assistance; what little we can do, we do. The Minister should not feel the need to thank us or obligated for that. It’s the least we can do.
