Slovenian Defence Minister Marjan Šarec paid a two-day working visit from 31 January to 1 February, at the invitation of the Minister of Defence Mr. The visit is part of the strengthening of bilateral cooperation with Slovenia, following the President's official visit to the Republic of Cyprus last March.
The main outcome of the visit is the signing of a bilateral agreement in the field of defence and the launch of its implementation through a Military and Defence Cooperation Programme, with actions including joint exercises, co-training and exchange of personnel and know-how. The signing of the agreement further extends and expands Cyprus' cooperation with our partner states within the EU.
The two Ministers had a private meeting and extended talks, during which they discussed issues of common interest, with emphasis on the security situation in Europe and the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as issues of common defence and security policy of the EU.Petridis briefed his Slovenian counterpart on the military security situation in the Republic of Cyprus, the ongoing Turkish provocations, the Turkish revisionist policy and the hybrid threats to Cyprus, especially through the instrumentalisation of the migration issue.
It is noted that Cyprus and Slovenia have previously signed an Agreement on the Protection and Exchange of Classified Information and are jointly involved in three European capacity building programmes within the framework of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).
Mr. Šarec was accompanied by the Chief of the Armed Forces of Slovenia, who held a meeting with the Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis, during which issues of common interest were discussed.
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