By signing the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement), Cyprus and France are making a decisive contribution to achieving our common European goal of the strategic autonomy of the European Union, President Nikos Christodoulides posted on X, on Monday.
He noted that the signing of the agreement further strengthens the strategic relationship and cooperation between Cyprus and France.
The President recalls that when French President Emmanuel Macron visited Cyprus on April 23, public reference was made to the multi-level strategic cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of defense and security.
He also recalls that he had then mentioned that by June the two countries would go ahead with the signing of a Bilateral Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which would set the necessary institutional framework for hosting French forces in the Republic of Cyprus for humanitarian operations in the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
”I am delighted that today the Ministers of Defence of Cyprus and France signed the said Agreement in Nicosia, further strengthening the strategic relationship and cooperation between Cyprus and France”, the President noted.