Yunan basını: Güney Kıbrıs Rum Kesimi, NATO’ya katılmayı planlıyor

Yunan gazetesi Kathemarini’nin haberine göre Güney Kıbrıs Rum Kesimi Cumhurbaşkanı Nikos Hristodulidis, GKRK’nin NATO’ya girmesini ön gören bir plan hazırlıyor

Habere göre Hristodulidis, Ekim ayında ABD Başkanı Joe Biden’la bu planı konuştu ve Biden plana onay verdi. Beyaz Saray Ulusal Güvenlik Danışmanı Jake Sullivan’ın, GKRK’nin planını duyduktan sonra, bunun iki taraf için de kazançlı olacağını ve “böyle bir gelişmenin yaratacağı beklentiler muazzam olacağını” ifade etti.

Planın temel unsurlarında, Kıbrıs’ın birleşiminde ilerleme kaydedilmesi ve GKRK ve Türkiye arasındaki ilişkilerin iyileştirilmesi olduğu belirtildi.

Haberde, böyle bir planın Kıbrıs’taki “birçok tabuyu” yıktığını belirtildi. Haberin, GKRK’nin dünya sahnesindeki yeri açısından büyük önem taşıdığı aktarıldı.

The strategic choice as well as the theoretical and practical aspects of his plan, for a possible future accession of the Republic of Cyprus to NATO, when the political conditions allow it, was developed according to exclusive information of “K” by the president of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulidis to his US counterpart Joe Biden, during their recent meeting in the Oval Office of the White House. It is a detailed, well-thought-out, long-term plan, consisting of several interdependent stages, which has already been accepted by Washington. It is characteristic that White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called it a “win win” upon hearing it, adding that “the prospects that such a development would create would be enormous.”

And with Rute

It was not the first time that Americans had heard President Christodoulidis describe his vision for Cyprus’s place in a rapidly reshaping world, as he had first shared it with former Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland before she left the State Department. and then with a high-ranking US Pentagon official in the summer. However, its official presentation at such a high level, as it was on October 30, proves that it is a plan that has politically matured in the mind of Mr. Christodoulidis, who, according to information, after Washington also discussed it in Bucharest, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit.

The first objective of the specific plan, as “K” is able to know, is the institutionalization of the relationship of the Republic of Cyprus with NATO, with its participation in an important organization that is considered a prelude to joining the North Atlantic Alliance. However, in order to achieve this, a series of chain events must have preceded, which have as a basic starting point positive developments in the Cyprus problem and progress in the Euro-Turkish. Through them, for example, Ankara’s cooperation with European organizations and institutions could be unlocked, very useful for it and its industries, something that until now has been denied and vetoed by Nicosia. It is obvious that in order to launch the aforementioned developments, a multi-level cooperation with the international actor becomes necessary, which the Republic of Cyprus is ready to support.

Three strategic objectives

In parallel with all this and at the same time as the formation of the appropriate political conditions, the Republic of Cyprus has asked the USA to fulfill three main strategic objectives. First, the possibility of being able to procure defense equipment from the US, which in order to be possible requires changing the annual renewal of the lifting of the arms embargo to at least three or five years. According to secure information from “K”, during the meeting in the Oval Office, President Biden pledged that he would proceed with the appropriate consultations with Congress to satisfy this “reasonable”, as it was described, request. It is emphasized that for this to happen, a change to the existing legislation is required and the relevant amendment by Senator Cory Booker is already pending, which cannot be ruled out to be included in the US defense budget by the end of the year.

A second request that must be met from the US side based on the Cypriot plan, is the further substantial upgrade in the field of joint training of members of the Cypriot National Guard in US military academies. This possibility was only recently made official and concerns two of the five US schools that offer four-year military programs. The Republic of Cyprus considers it absolutely necessary to increase the number of offered positions and the American side treats this request positively as well.

A third objective is the decisive contribution of the US to the gradual modernization of Cyprus’ defense capabilities and military forces, facilities and means to NATO standards. Cyprus has already proven that it can become absolutely necessary in the long term with the overall infrastructure it has, the ports, airports and military facilities, which already serve American forces, to an extent that has impressed Washington. In this context, it is not excluded that by the end of the year there will be developments related to the granting of free defense equipment to Cyprus, as well as the provision of material through international sales programs.

In particular, for the “Andreas Papandreou” Base in Paphos, the US would be interested in a permanent military presence of its forces, which is however not possible to date for purely practical spatial planning reasons, as forces from other countries are also stationed there. In order to respond to such an eventuality, Nicosia seems to be seeking financial assistance from the US for the expansion of this particular base, which could then be designed according to American standards and host US armed forces personnel on a permanent basis.

The senators

It is worth noting that one of the reasons why a high-ranking delegation of senators with important positions and influence in critical committees of the Congress visited Cyprus in October was precisely this. To closely investigate the possibilities and elaborate in depth the details of the plan for the use of the specific location, which they unanimously described as “of a huge strategic nature”.

The consolidation of the new role of Cyprus at the center of the American strategy in the region is also reflected in the contacts that President Christodoulidis had with important factors of the Republican majority in Congress, immediately after the election victory of Donald Trump. In a phone call he had with senators who work closely with the next US president, the intention of the new leadership to maintain and further strengthen Cyprus’ role in the region was confirmed. In a conversation with a senator who participated in the October delegation, it was characteristically said that “Cyprus is the country we can rely on to achieve what we want in the region”. He even assured Mr. Christodoulidis that the next Secretary of State Marco Rubio knows very well friends, competitors and enemies in the region and that the new US administration intends to work closely with the Israel-Greece-Cyprus triangle.

The obstacles

The Cypriot side fully recognizes the practical difficulties, obstacles, reactions and challenges it will face in the long journey to achieve the ultimate goal of realizing the vision of possible future membership in NATO. However, in Washington and Nicosia it is estimated that the mere fact that this discussion is opening, even at a purely preliminary stage, breaking taboos inside and outside the borders of Cyprus, is a development of major importance for the – now permanent and unwavering – orientation of of the Republic of Cyprus and a development extremely beneficial both for itself and for the North Atlantic Alliance and the United States.