Christoforos Fokaides

The defense ministers of Cyprus, Egypt and Greece agreed Thursday to step up cooperation in combating drug, weapons and people trafficking in the east Mediterranean and to share information on countering the threat of terrorism.

Cyprus's Defense Ministry says the island nation will help Lebanon build a search-and-rescue center for responding to emergencies off its Mediterranean Sea coastline.

A Defense Ministry statement says Cypriot officials will provide Lebanese authorities with training, technical know-how and financial assistance for the center.

The multinational NEMESIS exercise begins on Tuesday in Cyprus's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), for the fourth year in a row.

Italy’s energy giant ENI is currently carrying out drilling offshore Cyprus and this could lead to a positive development for the whole of Europe.

This is what Italian Minister of Defence Roberta Pinotti said in Nicosia on Monday evening after talks with her Cypriot counterpart Christoforos Fokaides.

Israeli commandos were wrapping up a large-scale military drill in Cyprus’s Troodos Mountains on Wednesday.

The drill, the first of its kind to take place in Cyprus, involved hundreds of combat soldiers from the Egoz special forces unit as well as Black Hawk helicopters and Super Hercules transport plans.

A new Defence Agreement which updates, strengthens and expands into new areas of cooperation the existing Defence Agreement between Cyprus and France, was signed by the Minister of Defence, Mr Christoforos Fokaides and his French counterpart, Mr Jean – Yves Le Drian, in Paris, today.

Armenia and Greek Cyprus have signed a new military pact in Yerevan, which paves way for the two countries to perform joint military exercises.

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and Greek Cypriot Defense Minister Christoforos Fokaides signed the agreement in Yerevan on May 27.

Greece's new defense minister says his country is boosting cooperation with Cyprus to strengthen security in a volatile region.

Panos Kammenos says that the discovery of hydrocarbons in the east Mediterranean as well as the threat posed by the rise of extremism in the region necessitates closer security cooperation.

NICOSIA/BELGRADE - Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic conferred with Cypriot Defence Minister Christoforos Fokaides concerning the improvement of military-economic cooperation on Friday.

Gasic conferred with Fokaides during the visit to members of the Serbian Armed Forces who are participating in the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

BELGRADE - Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic will on August 22-24 visit the Serbian Armed Forces troops deployed in the United Nations peacekeeping operations in Cyprus and Lebanon, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.