“Turkey’s provocative attitude towards Cyprus threatens the interests of the European Union and should be treated as such,” said Cypriot Defense Minister Charalambos Petridis in a statement on the sidelines of his meeting at the Defense Ministers’ meeting in Brussels. a lengthy exchange of views on the Strategic Compass, a landmark document for EU action over the next decade. “We were in favor of strengthening the strategic autonomy, noting at the same time that Turkey’s provocative behavior towards Cyprus threatens the interests of the European Union and as such should be treated,” said Mr. Petridis.
“We also discussed the latest developments regarding the Coordinated Maritime Presence. We stressed the importance of a stronger EU naval presence in the Eastern Mediterranean in order to ensure the implementation of international law. In this context, Cyprus, Greece, France and Italy are already participating in joint exercises within the framework of a quadripartite mechanism “, he added.
Charalambos Petridis also pointed out that there was a discussion on strengthening “the support of the European Defense Agency to the Member States in terms of innovation, while the Budget of the Organization for 2022 was approved”. Finally, as he noted yesterday, he had a meeting with the French Minister of Defense, Florence Parley, with whom they discussed “the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, our bilateral relations as well as the priorities of the forthcoming French Presidency of the Council of the EU”.
With the Minister of Foreign Affairs @NikosDendias and my Cypriot counterpart @PetridesCh We participated in the joint meeting of the Foreign Ministers and its Ministries of Foreign Affairs #ME on the “Strategic Compass”. #StrategicCompass ???????? pic.twitter.com/LwQLvDRGFo
— N Panagiotopoulos (@npanagioto) November 15, 2021
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