18 November
European Defence Agency chief executive Jiří Šedivý has warned against cutbacks in military spending due to budgetary pressures caused due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has forced several European countries to re-evaluate their defence expenditure. In May, the European Defence Fund received a revised allocation of $9.5bn. The European Defence Agency officials believe that policymakers should not be distracted by the pandemic and should focus on the security situation of the EU countries.
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Chief of the Cypriot National Guard Lieutenant General Dimokritos Zervakis has tested positive for Coronavirus after meeting with Greek defence ministry representatives in the past week. One of the representatives tested positive for the virus towards the end of the week. Charalambos Petrides, the defence minister, is also self-isolating. Approximately 12 members of the ministry are currently self-isolating.
The US military has reported 11 new coronavirus cases in Japan in the past 24 hours. The navy announced two positive cases, the air force six and the army three new cases. Of the 11, four reportedly arrived recently in Japan.
The South Korean defence ministry announced that three further service members tested positive for Covid-19, the cases included two army officers and an airman. A recent surge has brought the total number of confirmed coronavirus military cases to 204.
