The Parliamentary Defence Committee asked Germany's and the EU's contribution to the management of the migration issue on Thursday, during its meeting with the Friendship Group for relations with Cyprus and Malta of the German Bundestag. The strengthening of cooperation between the German and Cypriot armed forces and the replacement of the RoC weapons systems were also discussed.
In his introductory remarks, the Chairman of the Defence Committee, Marinos Sizopoulos, said that the presence of the members of the German Parliament's friendship group in Cyprus is of particular political significance given that Cyprus is the only EU member state 37% of whose territory has been illegally occupied by Turkey since 1974, while Nicosia is the last and only divided capital in the EU.
He added that the two countries have to deal with the issue of migration and the services offered by the Republic of Cyprus to the German armed forces in the framework of the UNIFIL mission in Limassol.
For her part, the Chairperson of the Friendship Group in the Bundestag, Derya Türk- Nachbaur, after thanking the Chairperson for the hospitality, said that Germany wishes to deepen and further strengthen relations and cooperation between the two countries, adding that the common challenges the two countries are facing include the expansion and management of renewable energy, climate protection and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
She added that Germany attaches great importance to migration policy and that she was happy for the fact that solutions at the bilateral level on migrant allocation were found, expressing the desire to resolve the migration issue in the most humanitarian and fair way possible.
In their questions, the members of the German friendship group asked for information on the defence budget of the RoC, the possibility of Cyprus joining NATO, as well as the actions Cyprus has taken to replace Soviet and Russian-made equipment with American and Western European equipment respectively.
The members of the Defence Committee were also questioned by their German counterparts on Cyprus-US cooperation in the field of defence, on migration flows to Cyprus, and on the prospect of closer cooperation between the Cypriot and German armed forces in the field of armaments.
Commenting on the aforementioned points, Sizopoulos said that the defence budget of the Republic of Cyprus amounts to 1.5% of the GDP and the arms budget ranges between 170 and 180 million euros per year, while with regard to weapons systems, he said that after the end of the US arms embargo in the last two years, efforts are being made to further enrich the weapons systems of the Republic of Cyprus from other countries as well.
He added on this issue that at present the country that mainly supplies Cyprus apart from France is Israel within the framework of inter-state agreements, but this does not prevent the exploration of possible supply of other weapon systems that will enhance the deterrent power of the Cypriot armed forces and contribute to the security of the region.
He also said that replacing weapon systems is not an easy task, especially in a country with relatively small armed forces, adding that it takes time to adapt to the new weapon systems in order to avoid a decrease in the combat effectiveness of the armed forces. He noted that there are already plans for gradual weapon systems upgrades and a possible purchase of new, modern, high-tech systems.
Regarding the cooperation between the Cypriot and German armed forces, Sizopoulos said that this is an important issue for Cyprus as it allows for the creation of security conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean region. He added that the Cyprus Armed Forces have already been in continuous cooperation in recent years with the US, France, Greece and Israel, thus the participation of Germany will add particular value and importance to these joint exercises.
Regarding the possibility of Cyprus submitting a NATO membership application, Sizopoulos asked what Turkey's response would be in such a case, adding that everyone sees what is happening with Sweden's application.
Finally, on the issue of migration, Sizopoulos asked for the contribution of Germany and the EU in general so that Cyprus could manage this problem, adding that possible solutions could include the conclusion of transnational repatriation agreements by the EU with sub-Saharan African countries, as well as the equal distribution of refugees among EU member states on the basis of population ratio.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
