Specialists from the US are expected in Cyprus within January to present suggestions on the upgrade of the ‘Andreas Papandreou’ air base in Paphos, President Nikos Christodoulides said in an interview with daily newspaper “O Phileleftheros”.
He said that the government decided to upgrade the naval base in Mari and the air base in Paphos and that the cost is at 14.7 million euros with an implementation time of 18 months.
The President said that there were discussions with the Americans who are interested, and who have used ‘Andreas Papandreou’ base for humanitarian purposes.
The US involvement will be either of technical assistance or financial, he added.
He noted that as regards the Mari base there were consultations with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Layen, because the EC could contribute financially.
He stressed that both bases will continue to be Republic of Cyprus bases, noting that “there is no question of giving a base to anyone else”.
The President also said that we do not want to lose the comparative advantage due to our geographical location, noting that at the same time Cypriots are also trained at the Bases.
He also said that soon there will be new announcements about the Cyprus-US military cooperation.
Regarding the possibility of Cyprus become a NATO member, President Christodoulides said that because Cyprus’ membership is not feasible at this stage, we are trying in terms of education, know-how, and reorganization to secure these advantages and when the conditions are conducive to become a NATO member state.
Regarding the Cyprus issue, he said that a new impasse would be a very negative development , adding that he expects that in January there will have a visit from the United Nations and more likely by the UN Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary Di Carlo in order to prepare the ground.
He also said that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recently decided that the Cyprus issue would fall directly under her Office, as far as the talks are concerned. Asked if this also means promoting the appointment of an EU envoy, he replied, “I can tell you that we are discussing specific names with the President.”
He reiterated that he is ready to meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, as early as tomorrow and that the Turkish Cypriot leader can publicly say whatever he wants about the opening of new crossing points.
The President said that he sees a desire on the part of Turkey to discuss about Cyprus and that even the discussions he had in Baku and Budapest with the Turkey leadership were substantial.
He stressed, however, that it will become clear in practice whether this willingness they are showing publicly , translates into something concrete in the Cyprus issue.
In his interview the President also elaborated on the Cyprus, Greece, Austria proposal on a road map for the next day in Syria.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.