We are not at the point of applying for membership of the Republic of Cyprus to NATO, CyprusMinister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, before the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, noting that the discussion on the country’s membership in the “Atlantic Alliance” will be held at the appropriate time.

Regarding the Cyprus issue, Mr. Kombos said there is still no clarity as to the dates for the meeting of the two leaders on the barricades and for the five-party meeting with the participation of the guarantor powers (Greece – Turkey- Britain).

Concern over Syria, aid to Lebanon

Kobos said, among other things, that Nicosia is monitoring the situation in Syria, and is concerned about possible migration flows, but also about Turkey’s role for its own benefit.

On the ceasefire in Lebanon, he said it was an “important development”, noting that the Republic of Cyprus has publicly declared its readiness to help in practice in its implementation.

He referred to the important role of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and to Nicosia’s intention to send necessary reinforcement material to the Lebanese forces, expressing hope that this will be something that will be officially announced.

EU and US

At the EU level, Combos referred to the new European Commission taking office, noting that Nicosia expects the very good cooperation to continue on issues concerning Cyprus, such as the Green Line Regulation, the Cyprus problem and the region, such as migration, etc.

Regarding the US, the Minister said that there are a number of issues that have been launched with varying degrees of implementation and that developments on some of them are expected soon.

“The relationship for us is extremely important,” he said, noting that it is based on strategic interests, and that this in itself places the Republic of Cyprus in a field of interest for the US because of the crises in the region, but also Nicosia’s orientation in this direction.

Requirements for applying to NATO

On the issue of NATO, the Cypriot Foreign Minister reiterated that one must first assess the satisfaction of the Republic of Cyprus’ necessary arms needs, adding that these are real given the presence of the occupying army and that its suppliers are very specific. There are some geopolitical facts which affect the supply chain to the Republic of Cyprus, he added.

He referred to the need to coordinate material, training and infrastructure capabilities with NATO countries with which Cyprus has cooperation “and this is our approach.”

He also said that relations are at an “excellent point” as far as the US is concerned, and that one should invest in them to enhance defence supply, enhance in terms of access to armaments, enhance the ability to train members of the Cyprus National Guard and enhance the Republic of Cyprus’ infrastructure, since it cooperates with NATO member countries. “These three should be made an effort to align with the countries you are working with,” he said.

He cited as an example the removal of third country nationals, from Lebanon, noting that the implementation of the national plan in case of hosting much larger numbers needs infrastructure improvements to be able to serve the role it has undertaken

On the possibility of applying for NATO membership, he said that “the transition from declaration to implementation is of particular importance, implementation requires some of the steps I have mentioned above.”

“This discussion will take place at the appropriate time,” the minister said, adding that we are not at the point of applying for NATO membership, noting “we are getting ahead of ourselves.”