UAE, Cyprus sign military cooperation deal

Cyprus’ Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides (R) meets with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan in the capital Nicosia on October 1, 2020 [ETIENNE TORBEY/AFP via Getty Images]

The United Arab Emirates and Cyprus yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen mutual cooperation on the military and defence levels.

UAE Minister of State for Defence, Mohammed Al-Bawardi, said in a statement that the agreement was signed in a “virtual meeting” with his Cyprus counterpart, Charalambos Petrides. “The agreement affirms the depth of our strategic relations with Cyrus,” Al-Bawardi was quoted by the official WAM as saying.

On his part, Petrides said that the MoU was a result of a “fruition of excellent bilateral relations between the two countries and our like-mindedness on an array of international and regional issues.”

“We consider this MoU as a step towards developing a long term, sustained and robust defence partnership between Cyprus and the UAE,” he said on Twitter.

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