In a welcoming piece of news that will serve to strengthen the bilateral relations between Cyprus and Lebanon and increase the quality of maritime security in the east Mediterranean, the Defense Ministry of the island country has announced that it will help Lebanon build a search-and-rescue center which will respond to emergencies occurring in and around the Mediterranean Sea coastline.
The statement from the Defense Ministry added that officials from Cyprus will offer their Lebanese counterparts the financial and technical training and know-how required to build and maintain the rescue center. The rescue center itself will serve to encourage cooperation between the two countries in matters of maritime security in the east Mediterranean.
This announcement was made after a meeting that was held between Cypriot Defense Minister Christoforos Fokaides and Lebanese Defense Minister Yaacoub Sarraf in the Cyprus’ capital city of Nicosia. The two ministers have further agreed to hold a three-way meeting with their Greek counterpart Panos Kammenos, which is due to be held in the first quarter of 2018.
Cyprus currently supplies the armed forces of Lebanon with small arms and ammunition.
