Regional security, the further enhancement of military cooperation and the promotion of maritime and energy security will be the focus of a trilateral meeting of the defence ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Israel in Larnaca on Friday, Defence Minister Savvas Angelides said on Wednesday.

Cyprus will host the second trilateral meeting of the three ministers at the Zenon Search and Rescue Coordination Centre.

Angelides said that he and his counterparts from Greece and Israel, Panos Kammenos and Avigdor Lieberman respectively, will discuss “regional security, possible fields of cooperation among the three countries and further promotion of our military cooperation, which is already in place through joint exercises, and also about expanding this cooperation to issues concerning cyber defence and in the fields of search and rescue.”

He stressed the aim is to create stability in the region, adding that this will happen through continuous cooperation with a view to promote welfare and development through regional cooperation with other neighbouring countries as well.

The minister underlined the importance of promoting a culture of trust and mutual understanding, since, as he noted, there are common interests among the countries of the region.

He referred particularly to the promotion of maritime and energy security, noting that there may be some common projects on this in the future.

“There are important prospects for the whole Mediterranean region and therefore we will give particularly importance” to this issue, he added.

Angelides said that an event with the participation of SMEs from the three countries doing business in the field of defence will take place in Nicosia on June 21 and 22.

Responding to a question, he said that there is also trilateral cooperation among Cyprus, Greece and Egypt on defence matters, and that Cyprus and Greece could also form such trilateral projects in the defence sector with Lebanon and Jordan.

Source: cyprus-mail