“Today we had the particular honour and pleasure to host here at the Ministry of National Defence the first tripartite meeting of the Ministers of Defence of Greece, Cyprus and Israel. I welcome my esteemed friends and colleagues Mr. Fokaides and Mr. Lieberman, as well as the members of their delegations.

Our three countries are historically connected with bonds based on sincere friendship and respect between the peoples and the governments and today we can say that we have established a strategic partnership.

Geostrategically, the constant communication of our peoples has been crucial for the progress, prosperity and security of the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean. Whenever that communication was open and unhindered, one can observe that commerce, culture, exchange of ideas, values and progress in general developed rapidly and positively. On the contrary, whenever that communication was hindered by external factors, the whole region of the Eastern Mediterranean was left behind in stagnation, a condition leading often to conflicts.

If one takes a look at the region’s current geopolitical condition he/she will understand the uniqueness and the importance of preserving this arc of security and prosperity.
Being fully aware of the aforementioned, our three friendly countries have conducted since 2016 three Summits, during which the Prime Ministers of Greece and Israel and the President of the Republic of Cyprus have decided to develop an open tripartite cooperation, in order to promote peace, stability, security and prosperity in the region.

These aims are interconnected. There can be no security and stability without the necessary financial and social development and on the other hand there can be no development and prosperity without security and stability.

In these times of security challenges and threats, conventional or not, it is our duty as Ministers of Defence to enhance our countries’ and peoples’ resiliency and contribute, accordingly, to the security and stability of the wider region and furthermore to cooperation, dialogue and prosperity.

The instability characterising the Eastern Mediterranean cannot be solely countered by one state. It requires collective effort and cooperation. Today we decided the forming of a tripartite coordination committee, which will prepare the annual meeting of the Ministers of Defence. The meeting of the Ministers of Defence has been established as an annual high level event.

Our countries’ cooperation which covers a wide field of relations including defence, sets an example for others to follow. We are willing to consider cooperation with other countries of the region, that being our aim, because all the countries of this region must promote what unites them and solve even the most severe differences, through dialogue and understanding, based on the principles of International Law.

However, our basic and inviolable term is the respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of every country and its people. As the Minister of Defence of Israel Mr. Lieberman said: there are two kinds of people in the world today, the extremists and those who seek cooperation.

I welcome them once more”.