Questions raised by the Cyprus National Guard Chief’s meeting with the US Army Chief of Staff

Statement by Eleni Mavrou, AKEL Political Bureau member

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 22 August 2018, Nicosia

According to reports, the Chief of the Cyprus National Guard Lieutenant General Elias Leontaris recently had a meeting with the Chief of Staff of the US Army General Mark A. Milley within the framework of his visit to the region of the Middle East.

Questions arise from the fact that both the US Ambassador to the island Kathleen Doherty, as well as the British High Commissioner Stephen Lilly both attended the meeting, but there was no representative of the Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus!

In fact, as we have been informed, in the meeting regional security issues, the participation of Cyprus in the European Union’s Common Security and Defense Policy, as well as the prospect of the further development of bilateral co-operation were discussed, which makes the absence of the political head of the Ministry of Defense from the meeting even more serious.

The Ministry of Defense must answer the simple question: was it aware of the holding of the meeting? If so, why was it not deemed necessary for its political head to be present in the meeting?