Ways of further strengthening and upgrading the ties between Cyprus and the UAE were discussed by the Minister of Defense, Charalambos Petridis, with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zaya.
According to a statement from the Ministry, the Minister of Defense during his visit to Abu Dhabi and the International Exhibition of Military Equipment IDEX 2021 had the opportunity to meet with his counterparts from the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Serbia, Egypt and Jordan.
Mr Petrides' visit to the UAE capital came at the invitation of his counterpart Mohammed Bin Ahmed Al Bowardi. The Minister, accompanied by the Commander of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Democritus Zervakis, had the opportunity to be informed about modern weapons systems by representatives of advanced military countries.
During his visit to Abu Dhabi, the Minister was received by his UAE counterpart, to whom he conveyed his satisfaction with the recent signing of the memorandum of defense and military cooperation for joint exercises and training programs with the participation of the Armed Forces of the two states. The two Ministers, as reported, expressed their desire to strengthen and upgrade the cooperation and opportunities emerging in the Middle East and the Arab Gulf region aimed at peace, security and stability in the region.
On the sidelines of his visit to the UAE, Mr. Petridis also met with the Ministers of Defense of Egypt, General Mohammed Ahmed Zaki, of Greece Nikos Panayotopoulos, of Serbia Nebojša Stefanović and of Jordan Lieutenant General Yousef Ahmad Al Hna.
The meetings discussed issues of both bilateral and regional defense cooperation, as well as trilateral defense cooperation, issues of mutual interest as well as ways to further upgrade existing agreements. It is a common belief through cooperation that peace, security and stability prevail in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
It is noted that the Chief of General Staff also had meetings with the UAE Military Leadership and other counterparts from the Gulf countries and the EU.
The Averoff-Kyprianou meeting on March 4 on the Cyprus issue was locked
