Cypriot Defence Minister Christoforos Fokaides and his UK counterpart Michael Fallon have signed a deal outlining better military cooperation between the two countries.

Fokaides and Fallon held a meeting on Tuesday in London in the framework of Fokaides` official visit to the United Kingdom, an official press release said. A Programme of Bilateral Military Cooperation between the Armed Forces for 2016 was later signed.

“The two Ministers initially held a private meeting,” read a statement on CNA. “Later, in the presence of the delegations of both Ministries, they discussed issues of mutual concern, such as the current situation in the wider region of the southeastern Mediterranean, the evolving geopolitical environment, maritime and energy security, cooperation in the field of counter – terrorism, new asymmetric threats, the immigration crisis and the developments on the Cyprus issue.”

This was the first formal visit of a Minister of Defence of Cyprus to the United Kingdom, according to the press release.