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Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides says he wants to change the status of the two British military bases on the island, describing the arrangement as a “colonial legacy” that should end. He stressed that the call is not aimed at Britain.
Christodoulides made the remarks in an interview with the British newspaper The Observer, published Saturday. The interview took place at the presidential palace in Nicosia, which served as the residence of the British governor during colonial rule.
“We need to finish with this colonial legacy,” he said.
Christodoulides said the British government has not ruled out discussing the future of the Akrotiri and Dhekelia bases. He declined to say what arrangement Cyprus would seek, though he said there are “a number of options.”
He said Nicosia would not hold any talks in the open. “Out of respect for the British government, we are not going to negotiate publicly,” he said. He added that the matter could be handled through diplomatic channels.
He also pushed back on any reading of his comments as hostility toward London. “This is not an expression of anti-British sentiment,” he said, adding that his administration values its ties with the British government. At the same time, he argued that the relationship has changed since independence. “Right now, our relationship with the UK is not the relationship that we had in 1960,” he said.
Britain holds Akrotiri and Dhekelia as Sovereign Base Areas under international agreements signed in 1960, when the Republic of Cyprus was established. Britain keeps the areas under its direct sovereignty rather than leasing them from Cyprus, which is why Nicosia sees them as a remnant of colonial rule.
The Observer reported that a drone strike on RAF Akrotiri earlier this year prompted Christodoulides to call for a discussion on the bases’ status. The base is a staging ground for British operations across the Middle East. The attack was attributed to Iran’s allies in the region, according to the newspaper.
France and Greece sent warships and anti-drone defenses to the island after the strike. The episode also revived discussion of the European Union’s collective defense clause, the newspaper reported.
In the same interview, Christodoulides said all 27 EU member states would welcome the United Kingdom rejoining the bloc, calling it a “win-win situation.” He said he would like to see Britain “fully joining next week,” but does not expect a reapplication “tomorrow or in two years.”
He said he sees a step-by-step approach in which Britain would end up behaving like a member without being one formally, and he cited Ukraine and defense and security cooperation as comparisons. He said the UK would not be allowed to pick and choose terms, and that it “needs the European Union more” than the EU needs the UK.
Cyprus held the rotating presidency of the EU Council earlier this year. The Observer cited a recent YouGov poll in which nearly 60 percent of Britons consider Brexit a mistake and 55 percent favor rejoining, compared with 34 percent against. Only 35 percent would back rejoining without the opt-outs Britain previously held, including on the euro and the Schengen agreement.
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