President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades has said he is in talks with the Russian government to let its military ships and planes use Cypriot ports and airstrips in case of humanitarian operations or in emergency situations.
Anastasiades said this in an interview with the Russian agency TASS published yesterday (9 February). He added that the two sides were conducting “a dialogue to explore the additional possibilities that could be offered to Russia in case of humanitarian operations or emergency situations”.
The Cypriot president is expected to travel to Russia later this month where trade, investments and the renewal of a military cooperation deal is expected to be on the agenda of talks in the Kremlin.
The press has reported that a draft agreement, approved by the Cyprus government last month, grants the permission to Russian planes to land at Andreas Papandreou Airbase, which was constructed by Cypriot government jointly with Greece.
Not bases
Several media reported that Cyprus, a member of EU and of the eurozone, but not of NATO, is offering Russia military bases. This was vehemently rejected by the country’s foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides.
Speaking before attending the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels on 9 February, Kasoulides explained that the offer of military facilities for emergency needs was in no way tantamount to offering bases.
“There has never been, and indeed there is no question of Russian air or naval military bases on the soil of Cyprus. Besides, there has never been any request from Russia about this,” he was quoted by the state Cyprus News Agency as saying.
“What President Anastasiades referred to, in a recent interview, was the renewal of a military cooperation agreement with Russia consisting of maintenance of military equipment sold to Cyprus years ago, as well as the purchase of spare parts according to existing contracts. As regards the offering of facilities, these are of a purely non-military humanitarian nature such as the evacuation of Russian civilians from the Middle East if the need arises.”
However, Greek and Turkish media report that the UK, which uses two military bases in Cyprus under the terms of the 1960 treaty of independence of which London is part, was nervous at the news of Nicosia’s offer to Moscow.
The UK High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Cyprus Damian Roberick Todd, is quoted as saying that the EU has a common stance on Russia with view to the recent developments in Ukraine, and that Nicosia had to abide by this position.
Anastasiades has reacted to these remarks, asking the UK envoy not to use “baseless” words.
“There is an old [defence] agreement, which should be renewed as is. At the same time, some additional services will be provided in the same way as we do with other countries, such as, for example, with France and Germany,” Anastasiades reportedly said, adding: “Cyprus and Russia have traditionally had good relations, and this is not subject to change.”
Asked to comment, Maja Kocijancic, Commission spokesperson for foreign affairs, said that at this stage, she would simply refer to the explanations given by the Cypriot authorities.
On a visit to Cyprus on 2 February, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Anastasiades, that the two countries could form a bridge between Europe and Russia, currently estranged over Ukraine.
>> Read:Tsipras says Greece and Cyprus could be ‘EU bridge to Russia’
Press reports brand Cyprus as “a favourite tax haven” for rich Russians. Russian-related business is thought to make up about 10% of the Cypriot economy.
Both Greece and Cyprus are Orthodox countries with traditions of siding together on many occasions. Greek media quoted Cypriot government officials saying that Nicosia would support Athens’ positions both at the Eurogroup meeting tomorrow (11 February) and at the EU summit the next day.