The US Senate has approved a bill which paves the way for the export to Cyprus of defense articles and defense services to the armed forces of the country.
Bill HR 1735, which was voted with 71 votes for and 25 against focuses on the US National Defence and was adopted by the House of Representatives in May.
The bill includes an amendment on Cyprus which asks the Secretary of Defence and the Secretary of State within 90 days to jointly submit “to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment of the military capability of the Republic of Cyprus to defend against threats to its national security, including threats posed by hostile foreign governments and international terrorist groups”.
The assessment should include “an analysis of the effect on the national security of Cyprus of the United States policy to deny applications for licenses and other approvals for the export of defense articles and defense services to the armed forces of Cyprus.”
It should also include “an analysis of the extent to which such United States policy is consistent with overall United States security and policy objectives in the region.”
Finally it should include “an assessment of the potential impact of lifting such United States policy.”
The amendment on the provision on Cyprus, was proposed by Senator Robert Menendez.
The US has imposed a military equipment embargo against Cyprus since November 1992