The Minister Am. in the celebration of Agios Nikolaos

The traditional official celebration of Agios Nikolaos, patron saint of the Navy, took place today at the Naval Base "Lieutenant General Evangelos Florakis", in Mari.

In his greeting, the Minister of Defense Mr. Christoforos Fokaidis stated that "the Navy is being strengthened and upgraded as a strategic priority of the first phase of the reorganization and modernization plan of the National Guard. And it could not be otherwise, at a time when the need to contribute to the creation of maritime and energy security conditions and the response to new challenges and threats in the Eastern Mediterranean require the existence of a modern Navy, which with its own means and capabilities but also in cooperation with friends from neighboring and other countries to be able to carry out its mission ".

"We have gone from declarations to deeds and in less than a month the first offshore ship from Israel will join the ranks of the National Guard Navy. A ship that has been launched since last September and in which the Cypriot crew has been trained for several weeks in order to become fully acquainted with the high-tech advanced systems of the ship. At the same time, by the end of the year, we will also be able to proceed with the decision to award two more offshore vessels. The relevant tender has been completed and we are already in the stage of evaluating the offers. The Navy, however, will soon be strengthened with two high-speed vessels for the needs of the UC, since the relevant tender has also been completed ".

"These additions, he continued, together with the very soon upgrade of the naval deterrence systems that we have, as well as the strengthening of the range of our radars that has been completed, modernize and significantly strengthen the Navy. It is also important to strengthen the Navy with professional staff. The absolutely successful integration of the Contract Hoplites has given the Navy added quality and has significantly strengthened its operational capabilities ".

At a strategic level, Mr. Fokaidis pointed out, "what will decisively upgrade the importance of the Navy will be the expansion of the Naval Base here. And I must say that the implementation of the first phase of improvement projects has already begun with the recent award of the relevant tender, as well as the project of electronic surveillance of the Base. The interest registered by friendly countries for the Naval Base here, as well as the possibilities of hosting a significant number of warships, either in bilateral relations or in the European context, with the emerging new European Defense Union, unequivocally shape the conditions for a significant change of data. in the area. That is why we have from the beginning expressed the will and readiness to provide infrastructure and facilities, here at the Zygio Naval Base but also at the Paphos Air Base, within the framework of PESCO, the new Permanent Structured Cooperation, in which Cyprus is founding member. The benefits for our country from our participation are obvious and undeniable. "The stronger the EU's ability to defend its security, its citizens and its interests, the stronger the security of Cyprus."

This was followed by a demonstration of EXOCET coastal systems and a demonstration of modern equipment for the recently received UCs, as well as a demonstration by a group of UCF frogmen that included episodes of counter-terrorism operation, ship recapture, shipwreck rescue and offshore target attack. After the celebration of Agios Nikolaos, the Minister, accompanied by the Commander of the National Guard, went to the area of ​​Zygio, where he attended operations in residential areas by the Command and the Israeli Special Forces, as part of the exercise "NIKOKLIS- DAVID ».

Source: GTP