Cyprus hosts high-level leadership training with UK partnership (updated)

A ''Strategic Leadership Programme'' in collaboration with the High Commission of the United Kingdom in Cyprus, the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom and Cranfield University, is being held from 29 January to 2 February 2024, at the Ministry of Defence, in Nicosia, by the Defence and Security Academy of the Ministry of Defence in accordance with the Memorandum of Defence Cooperation between the Republic of Cyprus and the United Kingdom.

The opening ceremony of the seminar was addressed by Director of Defence, Panayiotis Symeou on behalf of Minister of Defence Vasilis Palmas and British High Commissioner to Cyprus, Irfan Siddiq OBE, in the presence of ambassadors and diplomats accredited to the Republic of Cyprus, a Defence Ministry press release issued here today says.

It is also noted that participants include civilian and military personnel from the Ministry of Defence, the National Guard, the Cyprus Police, the Department of Civil Aviation and the Customs and Excise Department on behalf of Cyprus and UNFICYP. Senior officers from the Armed Forces of Greece, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Kingdom are participating in the training, as well as senior officers from the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar for the first time.

The objective of the programme is "to strengthen leadership and management at a strategic level in defence and the wider security sector, as well as to prepare future senior defence officials and operatives with the necessary tools and skills for strategic decision-making", the press release concludes.