Meeting between the General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL and the Minister of Defence

21 April 2023, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

The General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, met today with the Minister of Defence, Michael Yiorgallas. Issues of broader interest concerning the National Guard and the Defence of Cyprus were discussed.

The General Secretary of AKEL reiterated AKEL’s supportive approach with regards creating the preconditions that will ensure the National Guard’s combat effectiveness and the operational adequacy of our country’s defence capacity in the conditions of the semi-occupation our homeland is going through. Under these circumstances, the National Guard must function as a deterrent force serving the objective of the peaceful solution of the Cyprus problem.

Stefanos Stefanou pointed out AKEL’s long-standing positions and proposals for addressing long-standing problems such as the issues relating to boosting meritocracy in the armed forces, the modernisation of the regulations for officers and non-commissioned officers, the problems contract soldiers (SYOP) face and the tackling of current challenges.

The General Secretary of AKEL wished the new Minister well in his assumption of office, reiterating that as far as AKEL are concerned, defence matters are an arena of unity and cooperation, far from any logic promoting the instrumentalisation of the National Guard.

The AKEL delegation included the Party’s MP’s Kostas Kosta and Giannakis Gavriel, members of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, and Vakis Charalambous, member of the Central Committee of AKEL.