Cyprus is in constant contact and discussions with the United States, as well as the European Union, for both technical and financial upgrading of the Andreas Papandreou air base and the naval base in Mari.
Speaking on CyBC, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that American technocrats are expected on the island in January, noting that the upgrade is part of the deepening of Cyprus’s defense capabilities.
He explained that during the implementation of the “Amaltheia” project, the Government identified the need to upgrade infrastructure, clarifying that this falls within the framework of the humanitarian role played by Cyprus in the region.
Letymbiotis rejected the criticism that Cyprus is turning into a base for Westerners, saying Cyprus emerged as a key humanitarian point in a turbulent and challenging region.
In a recent interview, President Christodoulides once again emphasized that both bases will be the bases of the Republic of Cyprus and that they have no intention of giving bases to anyone.
Christodoulides stated that the bases could be given to the use of not only Western countries but also other countries that want to use them for humanitarian purposes, and he gave as an example the fact that the bases were given to the People’s Republic of China to remove its citizens from the region.
Christodoulides, who also touched upon NATO membership in the rest of his interview, stated that the use of bases had nothing to do with advancing towards NATO, and said, “If it were possible, we would immediately become a member of NATO.”