Strengthening its deterrent power Republic of Cyprus is a priority for the government, the President of the Republic of Cyprus said today Nikos Christodoulidiswho received in the morning, at the Presidential Palace, the new Minister of National Defense of Greece, Nikos Dendias.

Welcoming Mr. Dendias, Mr. Christodoulidis said that “it is always with great pleasure, friend Nikos, that I meet you, as now that I welcome you to Cyprus in your new capacity. I am sure that as Minister of Defense we will cooperate perfectly, as we did when we were both Ministers of Foreign Affairs, especially at the present time with all these challenges that we have to face, Greece and Cyprus, not only at the regional level, but also more broadly at the European level level, and on the occasion of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Greece and Cyprus they are pillars of stability and security in the region, and that was the main message we were both sending through our actions, and that will continue now.

Our main efforts are to strengthen the deterrent power. We do not consider any aggressive actions to solve problems. On the contrary, they create problems and through our timeless behavior we prove that we do not believe in such solutions. But strengthening the deterrent power of the Republic of Cyprus – and you will also have a meeting with the Minister of Defense afterwards – is one of the priorities of our own government and is something that also arises from the need to confront Turkish behavior in Cyprus.

But also more generally, today for the Republic of Cyprus which is its member state EU, at a time of particular geostrategic importance, where we have to deal with many threats, such as terrorism, asymmetric threats and many others, it is important to strengthen our country’s deterrent power. And within this context, I am sure that our cooperation will be excellent, and with your presence at the Ministry of Defense in Greece, we feel even safer.”

For his part, Mr. Dendias said:

“First of all, I’m always happy when I’m in Cyprus and I thank you very much for the opportunity you give me and the GEETHA leader, who accompanies me, to meet you. We will have a discussion with you.

As you very well said there is a long cooperation. Greece and Cyprus have always been forces of stability, forces that strive for the implementation of International Law, the International Law of the Sea. In International Relations they have the same perception of things. This was very clearly seen in Ukrainianwhich really raised the issue of territorial integrity, independence, the charter of the UN.

We met both countries, as was obvious, of course, on the right side of the argument.

It is my great pleasure to be here. It is my great pleasure to meet my counterpart YETHA of the Republic of Cyprus. I will see my former colleague Konstantinos, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus. I will also have the great honor to go to ELDYK. All this gives me great pleasure, but I say again, it is always an important opportunity for me to be able to exchange opinions and listen to what you have gained with your vast experience.

Thank you very much for the pleasure of the meeting.”