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- Ελληνικά
The portfolio of the Ministry of Defence was handed over to the new Minister of Defence, Mr.
The handover ceremony took place in the presence of the Director General of the Ministry Mr. Andreas Loukas, the Chief of the National Guard Lieutenant General Georgios Tsitsikostas, and military and civilian personnel of the Ministry of Defence.
During the ceremony, the new Minister of Defence Mr. Vassilis Palmas said the following:
"It is a great honour for me that the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, has decided to entrust me with the portfolio of the Ministry of Defence. It is with feelings of national pride and fully recognizing the weight of responsibility that I assume today, in a challenging period, the duties of the political head of the Ministry of Defence.
The Ministry which is charged with ensuring the national independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus and which is one of the most important pillars that determine the foreign policy of the government of our country.
On the occasion of my assumption of office, I would first of all like to publicly express my thanks to the President of the Republic, who has honoured me with his choice.
I have assured him personally, and I assure him publicly, that I will devote every ounce of my strength to meeting his expectations with excellence, showing dedication and commitment to achieving the objectives he has set in his programme of governance.
I address my greetings to the leadership and officers of the National Guard, the National Guardsmen, reservists and National Guardsmen of our country, as well as to all civilian personnel. The soul and heart of the National Guard.
I assure them that I will make every effort in a clear, systematic and methodical manner, in full consultation with the leadership of the troops, to lead our armed forces even higher.
I will stand by their side as a supervisor, as a colleague, as a friend, and as a helper and supporter in the common effort to maintain and upgrade the National Guard's morale.
I will seek to be informed as soon as possible about the issues that concern you, and together with the leadership of the National Guard, collectively, to take the most appropriate decisions for the good of our armed forces and society at large.
In this struggle no one is superfluous.
I expect each of us individually to work together, demonstrating commitment and dedication to the common goal, responsibility, professionalism and determination.
In our struggle for the resolution of the Cyprus problem and the reunification of our homeland, Greece, with whom we are united by a long common historical course, common values and unbreakable bonds of brotherhood, is an indispensable supporter and unwavering ally.
I will seek to hold talks with my Greek counterpart as soon as possible and visit him to discuss and jointly define efforts to achieve the goals that have been set, especially after the 1st intergovernmental meeting between Cyprus and Greece."
Addressing the outgoing Minister, he said:
"As I take over the Ministry of Defence from you, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have offered during the time you served as Minister.
Knowing you personally, I am confident that you will always respond positively to our invitations and will be present whenever required to advise us with your experience and knowledge.
I wish you good health, personal and family happiness, strength and success in your future career.
From today onwards, with full respect, cooperation and understanding at all levels, we will strive to meet expectations and achieve the best possible outcome to the challenges and demands of the modern environment and potential threats.
Thank you":
"In this modest ceremony today I hand over the portfolio of the Ministry of Defence to the new Minister, my friend, Vassilis Palma, following the decision of the President of the Republic to change the composition of the Cabinet.
First and foremost, I feel the need to sincerely thank again the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, for honouring me and entrusting me with the management of one of the most important Ministries of our country, the Ministry of Defence, over the last ten months.
I would also like to thank the President for trusting and supporting my decisions without any interference in my work.
Despite the brevity of the term and the suddenness of my replacement, I proudly state with satisfaction that "mission successfully accomplished."
Over the past 10 months, sparing no time and effort, my colleagues and I worked passionately for as long as it took, tirelessly, with vision and love for the defense of our semi-defeated homeland and the security of our citizens.
We targeted efficiency with flexibility and transparency in decisions, fostering accountability, meritocracy, fairness, and honest and sound management.
We focused on solving chronic problems of the National Guard and weaknesses in our defense, taking advantage of challenges and opportunities before us.
Our unwavering goal was to increase and enhance the National Guard's deterrent power, strength and readiness against conventional and asymmetric threats.
In the short time given to us, we have accomplished significant work towards achieving the goals we set.
We worked collectively, methodically, planned, avoiding mistakes, failures and omissions.
At this point I would like to express my sincere thanks to all those who worked with me.
To the Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Georgios Tsitsikostas.
To the Director General of the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Andreas Loukas.
To the former Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis.
To all my colleagues in my office and my staff.
To the military and civilian personnel of the Ministry of Defence and the National Guard.
My sincere thanks to the members of the Defence Committee and the parliamentary parties for the close and productive cooperation we have had during these ten months.
I also thank the ministers, service officials, my counterparts and the ambassadors of the foreign countries with whom we worked.
In assuming the duties of Secretary of Defense in March 2023, I was and continue to be fully aware of the tremendously important responsibility I have been entrusted with toward our country and our people.
Throughout my time as political head of the Ministry of Defence, I have faithfully adhered to what my conscience, principles and values dictated, regardless of the personal cost.
My sole concern was the defense of our country and the security of our fellow citizens, and my sole pursuit was to effectively meet the requirements of my appointment by implementing the resulting obligations and commitments of our government's program.
Together with my colleagues, we set as our highest goal the continuation of the effort to upgrade and strengthen the defense capabilities, combat capacity and operational readiness of the National Guard.
With dedication and a strong sense of responsibility, calmly and with absolute seriousness, we have always worked in full consultation and close cooperation with the President of the Republic and the leadership of the National Guard.
We set as our goal the sacred task of safeguarding the territorial integrity and sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus through maintaining and increasing the strength of the National Guard and strengthening its deterrent capability as a tool for the liberation and restoration of the unity of our country.
We focused our actions on how to modernize and upgrade the capabilities of the National Guard, emphasizing on weapon systems of modern technology in order to maximize the effect, while saving personnel
In the framework of our defense diplomacy, we deepened even more our defense cooperation with other states.
During the 10 months we had official meetings and formal consultations in Cyprus and abroad with Defence Ministers from 17 countries. As a continuation of our external relations, the Ministry of Defence, through the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, assisted in the international effort to evacuate civilians both from Sudan in April 2023 and more recently following military operations in Israel.
To date, we have served more than 26 countries with civilian evacuation needs from neighboring war zones, providing reception, feeding and temporary sheltering capabilities for civilians in National Guard facilities.
We signed the National Guard's declaration of membership in the State Partnership Program of the United States Department of Defense with the New Jersey State National Guard as a partner, significantly upgrading the Republic of Cyprus' relationship with the United States.
During this period, our cooperation with Greece has been significantly improved, enriched with new elements and is now at an excellent level, based on strong foundations.
Over the last ten months we have worked intensively to resolve labour issues. We have promoted actions and prioritized the various personnel issues of all ranks, the readjustment and improvement of the National Guard's force structure, and the increase of available positions for officers and permanent non-commissioned officers.
We improved the criteria and points-based procedures for promotions, retirements, transfers and assignments.
In order to modernize the legislation of the Army of the Republic, we promoted draft regulations for the payment of allowances and insurance coverage for all members of the Army during the performance of their duties.
Our spearhead has always been our personnel. We cared about our cadres. We wanted to solve their problems.
We conducted a study and made proposals to improve the conditions of employment of Contracted Armed Forces Officers (COOs) with the aim of upgrading their salaries and ensuring their professional rehabilitation after retirement.
We sought to make the institution of SYOPs more attractive to address the phenomenon of their withdrawal or reduced interest in applying for recruitment, which occurred in the last calls for vacancies.
In the area of infrastructure we opened the Maritime Infrastructure file.
We took courageous decisions and with the assistance of experts from abroad we are proceeding with the preparation of the necessary studies for the expansion and modernisation of the Naval Base "Evangelos Florakis".
Part of our work in the past period has been to align our policies and actions with the transition effort towards green growth.
We have strengthened green actions in the NF and reinforced the effort to make our camps green and to give our staff a green culture.
In addition, we gave emphasis to the digital transformation of the NF and soon the force will be electronically connected to the citizens with an application that will enable them to issue all their military certificates through the ARIADNI system.
We also gave importance to speeding up the communication time with our reserve and national guard cadres.
We designed, developed and will soon make available for use the electronic communication system of the Ministry of Defence and the National Guard with active reserve personnel.
We worked on health and safety issues for materials, ammunition, equipment and storage and recruiting areas.
Utilising resources from the Ministry of Defence and funds from the European Defence Fund, we strengthened the ecosystem of Cypriot defence industry companies, while creating a special directorate in the Ministry of Defence to support these companies.
Finally, in the context of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the AF in 2024, we worked, researched and posted lists of combatants/casualties and missing persons of 1974 with the aim of awarding them all with a Medal of Merit for their contribution to the struggles of the homeland.
In assuming the Ministry of Defence ten months ago, I stated that my primary objectives were to seek to create conditions of universal understanding, absolute unanimity and undisturbed national unity with all social and political forces; also my objectives were to achieve efficiency and flexibility in the armed forces, the safety of personnel and the resolution of chronic problems in the field of defence.
This is what I tried to achieve. I state unequivocally that I feel satisfied with the collective work accomplished to date. And this work does not belong to me.
This work is the result of the collective effort of the Ministry of Defence, the General Staff, military and civilian personnel at all levels and grades.
Nevertheless, there was not enough time to accomplish all that is in progress.
But I feel deeply proud and grateful for the effort made so that the National Guard can look to the future with optimism, as a modern and effective deterrent force and as an important tool in the implementation of our country's foreign policy.
As I leave the duties of the Minister of Defence, I am at peace with my conscience that I have fully discharged the responsibility entrusted to me by the President of the Republic and the state.
Today I hand over the portfolio of the Ministry of Defence in the hands of an experienced politician, my friend Vassilis Palma, confident that he will make every effort to achieve the goals we have set for the good of the defence of our country.
Dear Friend Minister,
I wish you good strength and every success in the tasks you are undertaking.
Directly, sincerely and sincerely I assure you that you will have my unreserved personal support and assistance in the effort to carry out your duties, towards achieving the ultimate goal of strengthening the defense and defense of the territorial integrity of our country.
I will be by your side in our country's effort to acquire the necessary deterrent power which will be a tool in our struggle to shake off the occupation and an element that will inhibit the expansionist appetites of the invader.
We owe it to our martyred people, who bled, who were refugees, who experienced absolute destruction and death, and who continue to suffer to this day.
Good luck in your work.
Thank you."
On behalf of the staff of the Ministry, the Director General, Mr. Andreas Louka, bidding farewell to the outgoing Minister of Defence, said the following:
"I duly bid you farewell today on behalf of the civilian and military personnel of the Ministry of Defence.
You took over as Minister of Defence in March 2023 at a time of challenges and turbulence at the international level.
Fully aware of the responsibility you have assumed and with a conscious commitment to fully implement the government's programme and the objectives we have set as the Ministry of Defence, you paved the way for the rest of your colleagues with dynamism and determination, effectively reinforcing the political decisions that had already been taken.
You sought from the very first moment to work together to upgrade and modernise the National Guard in order to implement the government's programme for a strong, flexible and modern force, capable of continuing to be a powerful deterrent against any stallion and a worthy defender of the territorial integrity and sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus.
A programme which you have supported with realism, consistency and a high sense of responsibility.
We acknowledge that with wisdom and perseverance you have struggled to promote reforms and provide solutions to issues concerning the personnel and the internal functioning of the Ministry of Defence and the National Guard in general, while contributing to the maintenance and strengthening of the Ministry's policy of extroversion both in the Eastern Mediterranean region and at European and international level.
Representing the staff of the Ministry of Defence, I assure you that you will be remembered with the most positive memories.
We will remember you for your kindness and your people-oriented administration.
You will be remembered for your consistency, ethics, straightforwardness and benevolence of character. For the great sensitivity you showed in every case of dealing with an issue of a humanitarian nature, which reflects the depth of your humanity and your willingness to support our suffering fellow human being.
We bid you farewell, Minister, with great respect and with our sincere wishes for health, personal and family happiness and a new productive page in your life."
He then welcomed the new Minister by stating the following:
"You are taking over the leadership of the Ministry of Defense today at a period also full of challenges, in which on the one hand Turkish revisionism and on the other hand the fact that we are in the perimeter of war conflicts call for the continuation and intensification of our efforts to strengthen, upgrade and develop the defense and deterrence capabilities of the National Guard.
We will continue the implementation of the government programme of the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, with the aim of substantially strengthening and upgrading the operational capacity of the National Guard.
Our strategic objectives include, among others. [*]Deepening the already close defence cooperation with Greece, in the context of the new geopolitical developments in the wider region, as well as the participation of our countries in the Common Defence and Security Policy (CSDP) pillar of the European Union, as well as the trilateral and multilateral cooperation we already have with neighbouring and other countries. [*]Supporting the participation of the local ecosystem in research and innovation for new defence technology, within the framework of corresponding European high-tech programmes, with the absorption of European funds and utilisation of our local human potential, thus opening a window of opportunity for the creation of a defence industry. [*] Gradual transformation of the National Guard into a modern, flexible, semi-professional army, with investment in the further upgrading and training of our staff and simultaneous reorganization of the logistics system, with the aim of saving resources for their rational utilization.
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In this effort, I assure you that the military and civilian staff of the Ministry will support you with dedication, trust, professionalism and consistency.
I welcome you again to the Ministry of Defence and wish you health, strength and every success in your work."
(NZ/AF)
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