The use of the SAFE financial instrument constitutes part of the government’s collective effort to further upgrade and enhance the National Guard's readiness, Defence Minister Vassilis Palmas has said, noting that the Ministry’s goal is to make full use of available funding to cover the priorities of the National Guard over the next five years, up to the end of 2030.
Addressing a discussion on European defence and Cyprus’ role, organised by Cypriot MEP Costas Mavrides, member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Security and Defence, at the House of Europe in Nicosia on 3 November, the Minister said that beyond the resources and projects to be funded through SAFE, the Ministry of Defence has already prepared a multiannual armament plan. The plan, he added, remains flexible with a view to allow for the integration of new developments and technologies in a sector described by rapid and dynamic change.
“The situation in Cyprus, where occupation forces are present at particularly high levels, while Turkey has consolidated its position in the defence industry, leaves no room for complacency,” Palmas stressed. He added that changes in the international environment, especially within the area of interest of the European Union, are evident, and therefore any further delay “cannot be accepted.”
In his remarks, MEP Costas Mavrides said that European defence represents the greatest project of European Union integration in recent decades. Within this process of transformation, he said, various challenges, opportunities, weaknesses and risks emerge. Both the challenges and opportunities, he added, are of particular importance to Cyprus, “since the Republic continues to face more than just a threat, with part of its territory still under illegal occupation.”
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
(Source: CNA)
