The approval of the SAFE armaments list was apt proof of his government's unwavering commitment to upgrading the National Guard as a deterrence force, said Nicos Christodoulides, as the Defence Minister will be submitting a relevant request to the European Commission at the end of the week.
Attending a green beret award ceremony to special forces members at Mt.Stavrovouni, the President noted that the goal was the NG's 'evolution into an even more modern, flexible and effective army'.
It's a priority, he added, also served by an agreement to secure military equipment from the US, as well as upgrading critical defence infrastructures, such as the Andreas Papandreou air base in Paphos and the Evangelos Florakis naval installations at Mari.
'This upgrading and modernisation is extended to human personnel', President Christodoulides added, underscoring that this was the fundamental pullar of the National Guard's deterrence power.
In parallel, he stressed, through promoting new programmes, deepening cooperation with universities, research centres and private organisations, Cyprus was working towards forging a strong local defence industry ecosystem, which, will, in turn provide substantial benefits and added value.
'The occupation of more than 37% of Republic territory, the need to monitor the buffer zone, our country's position and its European identity create additional foreign policy and internal security commitments', the President concluded.
Cyprus, he further added, was surrounded by existential dangers and threats, so this deterrence was not a luxury but an imperative need.
He named some of these challenges as migration, terrorism, piracy and asymmetrical threats, calling for constant strengthening and security forces readiness.
'As the closest EU member state in an area of significant geostrategic importance, Cyprus is called upon to respond to humanitarian missions and other research and rescue operations'.
This was the highest of priorities towards the internal and external resilience factors of Cyprus, as he put it.
The Cabinet approved the SAFE Regulation armaments list yesterday, allowing the Republic to utilise a fund of more than one billion euro afforded to the country, for the purchase of these systems.
Defence minister Vasilis Palmas did not dislose the nature of these systems, but said 'they were not offensive in nature'.
There would be synergies with France and Germany, as he noted, clarifying however that the purchase of weapons from the US was a bilateral agreement, not connected to SAFE.
The list will be submitted to the Commission by Sunday.