The Minister of National Defence Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos met today with the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus Mr. Dimitris Eliadis, during the second day of his visit in Cyprus.
Mr. Panagiotopoulos, after the official welcome and the honours ceremony by a National Guard detachment, he had a private meeting with Mr. Eliadis.
Immediately after, the two Ministers made the following statements:
The Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus Mr. Eliadis, welcoming the Minister of National Defence of Greece, stated the following:
“With very warm feelings and gratitude we welcome here in Cyprus the Minister of National Defence of Greece Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos. The fact that the new Defence Minister’s visit out of the country’s borders is accomplished with an official visit in Cyprus passes a clear message that Greece under all circumstances remains a permanent, stable and selfless supporter of the Republic’s of Cyprus independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The relations and the cooperation between the two governments are impeccable at all levels. In the field of the two Defence Ministy’s pertinence, cooperation is excellent and daily; coordination is complete, productive and efficient. Our common goal is to ensure peace, stability and normality to our countries and the broader region.
Within the circumstances the region of the Eastern Mediterranean is experiencing, our goal is that Greece and Cyprus will be promoted to agents of stability and normality, to agents operating and acting always and for all issues on the basis of international law. This is the message sent, that we join our forces in order to ensure state and national sovereignty and independence, that we claim our rights and that we aspire through our freedom to form the necessary conditions for growth, peace and progress for our people and the peoples of the broader region.
With these feelings I welcome once more Panos Panagiotopoulos and his colleagues and we reiterate the communion of views, our decisiveness and our common course towards the future”.
Afterwards, the Minister of National Defence Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos made the following statement:
“In my turn, I would like to thank the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus, my good friend Mr. Dimitris Eliadis, for the warm welcome he reserved for us, my partners and me, for the efficient and productive character of the discussions we had and will continue having during my official visit here at the Republic of Cyprus. As I also said yesterday after my meeting with the president of the Republic of Cyprus Mr. Dimitris Christofias, I am on an island at an official visit which is the beginning of a series of official visits I will make abroad as new Minister of National Defence of the Hellenic Republic. Next week I will be in Israel and few days after, mid-September, I will be in Lebanon. Of course I will return soon in Cyprus, September 26th and 27th, for the informal meeting of the Ministers of Defence, in the framework of the Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus, while I believe I will have the honour to represent Greece on October 1st at the celebration of your National Day.
With my friend Dimitris Eliades we began our telephone communication since the first hours I assumed my duties, when he called me to congratulate me. The cooperation between the Ministries of National Defence of Greece and Cyprus was, is and will be cooperation between two ministries working, more than friendly, at intimate level. One Ministry is the extension of the other; since we are not Ministries of war but Ministries of peace. However, in order to ensure peace, first of all the great deterrent capability of Hellenism must be ensured whether this concerns the Hellenic Republic, whether the Republic of Cyprus. Hellenism on one side, Hellenism on the other side as well.
I happen to have a close relationship with the Republic of Cyprus since many years; before entering into politics. When I worked here at the Republic of Cyprus as journalist and along with my Cypriot colleagues we produced great things. I observe the issue of Cyprus, the inflictions put on Hellenism of Cyprus, the historical hardness and the untold sufferings, this path of Hellenism in Cyprus, but I also observe their achievements, their dynamics, all they have accomplished in the field of economy, as well as many other fields, among which National Defence.
We have a close cooperation. This cooperation will become even closer while I am Minister. As I already said, one Ministry will be the extension of the other, despite the financial narrows the Hellenic economy, as well as the Hellenic people are in; it is the commitment of the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and my own personal commitment, as new Minister of National Defence of Greece, that the Republic of Cyprus at the level of defence cooperation will have anything it might need. All together, united, we can achieve the optimum. We can avoid being found between the hammer and the anvil of this extremely difficult financial circumstance which has really produced great difficulties for Greece and for Cyprus.
Let me remind you that this year, and it is also celebrated in Greece from this fall until the end of the year, 100 years are completed since the victorious Balkan wars of 1912. At these wars, the – small at the time – Greece reaching until the village of Melouna at Thessaly, doubled within few years its extent and territory. It is good to remember that few years before the great victories and the glorious war of 1912-1913, Greece had experienced the great defeat of 1897; one of the greatest and heaviest defeats for Greece and Hellenism. Yet, few years passed since 1897 and small Greece advanced once again, it recovered and managed achieving the glorious, magnificent and victorious war of 1912-1913.
Today I will not talk about wars. Those belong in the past. Today we have another war, a financial war; an encounter with the markets. From this encounter, from a completely different war as far as its type, sense and conduct are concerned, I believe that the Hellenic Republic and the Republic of Cyprus will both be victorious, so long as we are cautious, even more than economy which is of course a priority, our national security, our national sovereignty, and not allow the financial crisis become a crisis of national security, national sovereignty, national integrity. This is the reason we are here today, to cooperate even closer, even more essentially.
I would like to thank once more my dear friend Dimitris for the welcome, as well as for the cooperation. Besides, this cooperation will be continuous. Of course, allow me to congratulate all of you working by his side. Congratulate the Chief of the Cypriot National Guard, the Staff, the Commander of ELDYK, the Hellenic Force in Cyprus, the Officers, all those working for the Armed Forces of the Hellenic Republic, for the excellent and powerful way they perform their duty and mission assigned to them by Cypriot Hellenism, every day”
