Dr Elena Lazarou represented ELIAMEP at the Parliament Magazine Forum on “Cyprus Forward: Shaping EU and Mediterranean Horizons”, hosted at the Office of the European Parliament in Nicosia, om 27 May.
The defense and security session, moderated by Christopher Alessi of The Parliament Magazine, brought together Jonas Urbanavicius from the Cabinet of Commissioner Andrius Kubilius and Olympios Raptis, Head of EU Affairs, THEON, following opening remarks by Lt Gen Emmanouel Theodorou, Chief of the National Guard of the Republic of Cyprus.
The panel discussed the challenges and opportunities going forward. On the procurement front, joint purchasing schemes can serve as a reliable means of accelerating the delivery of Defence Readiness 2030, with Cyprus well placed to champion this approach for the rest of the EU to follow. In terms of capability building, there is a clear shift towards improved data sharing across the air, land, maritime, cyber, and space domains, designed to complement NATO frameworks fully, but it was agreed that further work remains to be done. The role of Cyprus was highlighted and commended throughout the discussion.
Opening remarks were delivered by Loucas Fourlas, MEP and Thea Pieridou, Head of the European Parliament Office in Cyprus.
