CYPRUS: Cypriots living on British bases protected under Brexit deal

Under the EU-UK draft Brexit deal more than 10,000 Cypriots living and working inside the British bases territory in Cyprus will have their rights fully protected.

This was the message from Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades in response to the in-principle agreement Britain has signed with the EU over its exit from the bloc.

He said the Withdrawal Agreement includes, as an integral part, a Protocol on the British Bases in Cyprus.

“I would like to express my full satisfaction with the final result, which ensures the smooth implementation of the acquis communautaire in the Bases covered by Protocol 3 in the Act of Accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union,” said Anastasiades in a statement Thursday.

“I am fully convinced that through the arrangements agreed in principle, the new Protocol fully safeguards the legal rights and interests of both Cypriot and European citizens living and working in the British Bases,” he added.

Anastasiades welcomed the withdrawal agreement and called Brexit “one of the greatest challenges that the European Union has experienced in its long history”.

“I am pleased that the Withdrawal Agreement will allow for smooth and orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, providing the necessary legal certainty for European citizens and businesses,” he added.

According to Nicosia, the withdrawal agreement paves the way for defining the European Union's future relationship with the United Kingdom.

“The Republic of Cyprus, which maintains close historical, economic and social ties with the United Kingdom, wants the closest possible relationship to the benefit of the two countries and will work within the Council in this direction,” said Anastasiades.

But in the UK, there was political turmoil on Thursday over the deal hammered out by Prime Minister Theresa May who is battling to save a draft divorce after her Brexit secretary and other ministers quit in protest.