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The Multinational Civil-Military Cooperation Exercise "ARGONAYTES 2023", which took place in the sea, air and land space of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC), was successfully completed today.
The exercise was conducted by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Civil Defence Force and the Rescue Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (RSRC), under the general coordination of the General Staff and with the participation of a large number of state institutions and services of the RoC. It was conducted in three phases and aimed at testing the Special National Plans (SNPs) "ESTIA" and "TEYKROS", which concern the reception of civilians from neighbouring areas, as well as the response to Mass Search and Rescue incidents within the area of responsibility of the Republic of Cyprus.
The first phase was conducted under the coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the GSDF, and involved a map exercise and implementation of the SNP "ESTIA". The scenario involved evacuation and reception of civilians from a crisis area. It involved 16 DR state agencies and representatives of the 18 states participating in the Non-combatant Evacuation Operations Coordination Group (NEOCG).
The second phase of the exercise, which involved Search and Rescue, was executed under the operational coordination of the CSED and tested a scenario of a naval and air accident in the land and maritime space of the DR, with the application of the EUS "TEYKROS", for responding to Mass Rescue incidents.
The Search and Rescue scenario involved services from the Republic of Cyprus, Greece, the United Kingdom, France, the United States of America, Italy, Egypt and Israel, with a total number of about 800 personnel and 49 air assets.
The third and final phase was also the Distinguished Visitors' Day (DVDay). It was conducted during the afternoon hours of 18 May 2023, with the practical application of the VMS "ESTIA", with a scenario involving mass arrivals of civilian nationals of foreign countries in Cyprus and their reception and management by state agencies.
The exercise was attended by the Coordinating Centre "ZION" of the CSTD by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Constantinos Kombos, the Minister of Defence Mr. Michael Yiorgallas, the Chief of the National Guard Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis and Ambassadors or representatives of 25 countries.
The objectives set by the Minister of Defence, as the Minister responsible for its implementation, have been achieved, as the services involved in the implementation of the National Plans "ESTIA" and "TEYKROS" had the opportunity to implement and evaluate their operational procedures for dealing with incidents of mass reception of civilians and to maintain a high degree of preparedness for dealing with incidents of a similar nature.
At the same time, at the international level, the successful execution of the exercise highlighted the very important role that the Republic of Cyprus can play as a hub of humanitarian operations and a pillar of stability in cases of crises in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.
It is noted that the importance of such exercises, as well as the level of preparedness of state services, was highlighted during the operation to evacuate civilians from Sudan, where a total of 2611 civilians from 28 countries were repatriated through Cyprus.
(MB/EXP)
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