Germany’s Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht was in Cyprus on Sunday for contacts with her Cypriot counterpart Charalambos Petrides.

The meeting had not been announced in advance.

A statement from the defence ministry said the visit was a milestone for the deepening of the bilateral relations between Cyprus and Germany.

The two ministers discussed issues related to the defence sector, analysed extensively the prospects for deepening defence cooperation and exchanged views on current European and regional security issues, with emphasis on the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Petrides briefed his counterpart on the Turkish revisionist policy in the region, and its illegal actions and claims, the instrumentalisation of migration and the regional initiatives of the Republic of Cyprus aimed at peace and stability.

The German Minister was accompanied by members of the German Parliament.