Naval Base Evangelos Florakis, Mari
It is with great pleasure and honour that I am here today at the Naval Base "Lieutenant General Evangelos Florakis", on the day of the feast of St. Nicholas, to honor the patron saint of the Navy and to pay the minimum tribute to the personnel who gave their lives in defense of the homeland.
The Navy, and the National Guard in general, has a high level of human resources, which when required proves its ability to meet the challenges that arise, with high morale, loyalty to the mission and, above all, love for the homeland.
Our personnel, in the framework of the defence partnerships we have established as the Ministry of Defence with friendly countries to maintain and strengthen security and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean, participate in a large number of multinational exercises and prove to be worthy of our expectations.
Within 2022, naval cooperation exercises have been held with the French Navy, the United States Navy and the Italian Navy.
The aeronautical exercises "NOBLE DINA 2022", "EUNOMIA 3 - 2022", "MEDUSA 12", "ORION 22" and "AGAPINOR 2022" have also been carried out with the participation of Greece, USA, France, Israel, Egypt, Italy and Bulgaria.
In the context of enhancing interoperability between the US and Cyprus Special Operations Teams, through the exchange of tactics, techniques and procedures used to improve the readiness of naval forces in the region, a co-training session was held between Special Operations Teams (SOTs) of the Navy Command's Submarine Warfare Unit (SSU) and the US Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Europe, among others.
Of course, the presence of assets and personnel of friendly countries in the region, as is the case these days with the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, interoperability and frequent co-training with advanced militaries, have only a positive impact, since they give prestige to the Republic of Cyprus and provide expertise to the National Guard personnel.
At the same time, they send the message that our defence cooperation remains strong, with the aim of enhancing security and ensuring freedom of navigation in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region, which we seek to turn into an area of naval interest for the EU.
This was also discussed at the recent quadrilateral meeting I had with the Defence Ministers of Greece, France and Italy, on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
This was also discussed at the recent quadrilateral meeting I had with the Defence Ministers of Greece, France and Italy, on the margins of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
On another level, that of humanitarian missions and search and rescue operations, the Navy in cooperation with the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre has participated in the exercises "ARGONAYTIS-2022" and "Nemesis-2022", certifying and confirming the role played by the Republic of Cyprus in the region as a pillar of security, stability and cooperation. In the various calls for assistance, the Navy is ready to act wherever required within the area of responsibility of the Republic of Cyprus.
In the framework of the modernization and strengthening of the Navy and our coastal defence, our anti-ship capabilities have been enhanced, the Coastal Surveillance System has been expanded with additional cameras, new search and rescue vessels and equipment for the Submarine Disaster Unit have been purchased.
We are also in the final stage of planning to upgrade our Naval Base so that it will be able to serve warships of foreign countries.
Our vision is the continuous strengthening of the Navy through a balanced process of development of the branches of the National Guard.
I would like once again to express my congratulations to the Commander of the Navy and to all the personnel for the beneficial work you are doing.
I invite you to continue with the same zeal, with selflessness, determination and confidence, under the aegis of St. Nicholas.
Happy Birthday to our Navy. Happy Birthday to all the celebrants. May St. Nicholas be at your bow.
Thank you.
(MB/EXP)
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