The government of Cyprus has denied reports that it plans to offer Russia air and naval bases on the island, with President Nicos Anastasiades even suggesting that Britain should not meddle too much on the subject.
The government continues to find itself in the spotlight of diplomatic pressure, primarily from western powers that want to gratify Turkey’s ambitions in the eastern Mediterranean where Cyprus has rights to conduct oil and gas exploration, and where Ankara’s former ally, Israel, is seeking to establish its energy hegemony.
On the other hand, Nicosia wants to appease concerns that Cyprus, somewhat dependent on Russian investments (estimated at about $30 bln in 20 years) and tourism, would be willing to break ranks with other European Union partners and avoid imposing harsher sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime.
At the cost of losing some 13 mln euros worth of agricultural exports and the number of Russian tourists dwindling from their record highs of 600,000 a year, Cyprus has toed the EU line over the Russia-Ukraine crisis, but has let it be known that other bigger member states are also unhappy with the conflict elevation between Brussels and Moscow, which would create more problems than solve them.
President Anastasiades 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, in addition to seeking Russia’s support over the Cyprus problem, while Moscow is expected to seek a bigger footprint in the eastern Mediterranean.
Commenting on remarks by British High Commissioner Damian Roderic Todd with regard to the military agreement that will be signed between Cyprus and Russia, the President said on Sunday that “I would never offer recommendations about the policy of the British Government. We are a sovereign state and we decide. We are talking about the renewal of the existing military agreement and possibly to provide certain facilities which are also provided to his country, perhaps in excess, and to other countries as well.”
Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, speaking before attending the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels on Monday, stated it more clearly:
“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.”
The issue of evacuations arose last year when Russia saw that its naval base in Syrian controlled port of Tartus could fall into rebel hands, while the question of access to the Paphos air base and Limassol port has only been raised by Ambassador Stanislav Osadchiy who has often expressed Moscow’s official intention to reach a potential agreement with Cyprus for a military base on the island.
Turning his criticism back at those who want to portray Cyprus as a puppet of Russia, Anastasiades added on Sunday that instead of criticising the Greek Cypriot side, western powers ought to contribute to helping re-start UN-sponsored peace talks, interrupted when Turkey sent in its survey vessel “Barbaros” to conduct seismic studies of the offshore Exclusive Economic Zone, where the likes of U.S.-based Noble Energy, French Total, Italian ENI and South Korea’s Kogas are exploring.
“I have not felt any pressure. Of course I hear advice that the dialogue should begin, and I have the impression that nobody needs to tell the Greek Cypriots, who for 40 years expect, await and pursue the solution at the earliest possible, whether they should return to the dialogue. And my answer to those who offer advice is that they should have intervened when the conditions for an even-handed dialogue on the basis of mutual respect were being knocked down, so that with their re-establishment an honest and productive dialogue is allowed to take place.”
The issue of Ukraine will arise again during the proceedings of EU’s General Affairs Council (GAC) on Tuesday, while Kasoulides is also expected to deliver a speech at the European Policy Centre think tank, in Brussels, on “View from a Front Line EU Member State: Cyprus and the Security and Stability of the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean”.
The Russian website Lenta.ru had initially reported that the Cypriot President had announced that the country is ready to host Russian aviation and naval bases and that the official agreement on military cooperation between the two nations is expected to be signed on February 25.
"There is an old [defense] 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 said.
"Cyprus and Russia have traditionally had good relations, and this is not subject to change," he reportedly said, which was misconstrued by some websites as a continuation of decades of “shady economic relationship ever since the fall of the USSR.”
In actual fact, when Cyprus did seek Russia’s support, Moscow afforded a high-cost short-term loan of about 2.5 bln euros, while Putin’s “de-offshorisation” programme aims to repatriate as much of overseas wealth held by Russian companies and oligarchs as possible, mostly held in reputable western European and U.S. banks, and a fraction invested in Cyprus.
Seeking to keep a balance in the region with NATO leaning towards blindly supporting its Turkey member, Greece has also sought recently to improve ties with Russia with the new government in Athens taking initiatives to explore their military and economic relationship.
During his first official overseas visit, new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras even stated in Nicosia last week that "Greece and Cyprus can become a bridge of peace and cooperation between the EU and Russia."
