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Defence Minister Michael Yiorgallas participated in the Informal Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), which took place on 29-30 August 2023, in Toledo, Spain, with the participation of the Defence Ministers of the European Union.
In the first session of the Council, the Ministers were briefed by their Ukrainian counterpart on the current situation in Ukraine and discussed ways to support and accelerate assistance to meet Ukraine's immediate needs.
During the second session of the meeting, the long-term regional and global implications of Russian aggression against Ukraine were discussed in the presence of NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning Mr. Jean-Pierre François Renaud Lacroix.
In the last session the Ministers discussed concrete ways to build and promote a more ambitious and close EU-Africa relationship on the issues of the volatile and changing security situation in many African countries due to the political instability and uncertainty prevailing in these countries. The Council discussed the latest developments on the African continent, in particular in the Sahel region and Gabon.
On 29 August 2023, before the opening of the FAC, the Ministers of Defence visited the headquarters and facilities of the EU Satellite Centre (SATCEN), where they were briefed on the work of the Centre and exchanged views on its further development. The Defence Minister, in his intervention during the meeting, praised the Centre's offer to the Republic of Cyprus of satellite products related to Turkey's illegal actions in the Republic's EEZ and expressed our side's readiness to assist in every possible way and means in the further development and strengthening of SATCEN.
On 29 August, on the sidelines of the FAC, the Minister had a private meeting with the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr Jean-Pierre François Renaud Lacroix, during which the recent provocative actions of the occupying army in Pyla were discussed. Lacroix the positions of the Republic of Cyprus and conveyed the Cyprus Government's satisfaction with the recent UN Security Council resolution condemning the illegal actions of Turkey and the occupying army.
Mr. Lacroix, for his part, expressed the UN's satisfaction with the constructive attitude and prudent management of the situation by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, stressing that the UN aims to de-escalate the situation, hence Mr. Miroslav Jenča's mission to Cyprus and Turkey, in order to enable the resumption of negotiations within the framework of a constructive dialogue between the two sides in Cyprus.
At the end of the FAC, the Minister of Defence made the following statement to the media.
I stressed that the war in the heart of Europe obliges the EU to stand as a pillar of the principles of the UN Charter and to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, including the Republic of Cyprus as a member state.
EU Defence Ministers expressed their concern about the deteriorating situation on the African continent, particularly following the latest developments in the Sahel region and Gabon.
During the discussion, I underlined the need for the EU to support the Republic of Cyprus in its efforts to address the illegal migration flows caused by the conditions of insecurity and instability in our wider region.
I also stressed that it is important for the EU to strengthen its influence and footprint on the African continent in order not to create a vacuum filled by other actors whose interests and principles are contrary to those of the EU.
Finally, on the sidelines of the Summit, I had a meeting with the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr Lacroix, to whom I outlined the positions of the Republic of Cyprus on the recent Turkish provocations in Pyla. Mr Lacroix, for his part, welcomed the constructive attitude and the prudent manner in which the Government of Cyprus handled the challenges.
(NG/SX)
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