President Nikos Christodoulides said last week that Cyprus will move forward with a plan on the British Sovereign Base Areas once the current regional crisis concludes.
Preparatory work already under way and the European Council having formally acknowledged Cyprus’s intention to open talks with the UK.
Speaking to journalists at Ayia Napa Marina ahead of preparations for the Informal EU Summit to be held in Cyprus on 23–24 April, Christodoulides was asked whether there is any development on the bases given UK Defence Ministry statements. Their status is not open to negotiation.
“I have said from the outset that when this situation concludes, we will move forward on the basis of a specific plan and design, the preparatory work for which began even before the public statement I had made,” he said.
Asked whether the plan will have EU support, Christodoulides pointed to the recent European Council conclusions. “The EU clearly records in the conclusions of the recent European Council that it acknowledges the intention of the Republic of Cyprus, and I consider that specific reference to be of particular added value,” he said.
The issue of the British Sovereign Base Areas has become one of the most prominent foreign policy debates in Cyprus since a drone strike on RAF Akrotiri on 2 March. This was the first strike on European territory linked to the widening war in the Middle East.
Christodoulides has said Cyprus is seeking negotiations on security arrangements, more consultation on missions and clarity under the 1960 treaty framework. Cyprus is not proposing Britain give up its bases, which provide crucial support for Middle East operations.
The UK Ministry of Defence has made clear that the status of the bases is not open to negotiation. “The status of the sovereign base areas is not in question,” a spokeswoman said. “They have never been part of the Republic of Cyprus as UK sovereignty was retained over these areas when Cyprus became independent in 1960. We have no plans to change this.”
The European Council summit ended with the EU declaring it stands ready to assist the Cypriot government in discussions regarding the bases’ future. It also states that it acknowledges the intention of Cyprus to initiate a discussion with the UK on the matter.
Christodoulides has previously described the bases as a colonial consequence of Cyprus’s history and said the state has an obligation to ensure the safety of those residents.
The government has said it is undertaking preparations “at all levels” for negotiations to take place with the UK over the future of the bases, with government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis saying that “at the appropriate time and where and when there is something which can be announced, it will be announced.”
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