Athens: Cyprus plans to join NATO, the strategy of gradual rapprochement of the Republic of Cyprus with the alliance was the focus of the meeting of the island state’s President Nikos Christodoulides with US President Joe Biden in late October, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported.
Cyprus was one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement, but in 2004, in connection with its accession to the European Union, it left it.
Christodoulides visited Washington on October 30. This was the first official visit of the President of Cyprus to the American capital since 1996.
Christodoulides, elected president in February 2022, fully supported anti-Russian sanctions. He advocates strengthening the island’s ties with the United States. At the same time, the Cypriot authorities previously stated that there were serious obstacles to joining NATO, since Turkey would object to it, and Cyprus did not meet the conditions for NATO membership.
Nicosia has developed a plan, the ultimate goal of which will be joining NATO, realizing what serious obstacles it will inevitably encounter, the publication said. This is a detailed, well-thought-out, long-term plan, consisting of many interdependent stages, which has already been adopted by Washington, it said, adding that White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called it a “win-win option.”
The starting point of the plan is the positive development of the Cyprus settlement and progress in relations between Cyprus and Turkey.
According to the newspaper, after Washington, Christodoulides also discussed his plan with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Bucharest.
Cyprus has been de facto divided between the Greek and Turkish communities since 1974, following an armed invasion by Turkey provoked by a coup in Cyprus and an attempt to annex the island to Greece. Thirty-seven percent of the island’s territory, where the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was proclaimed in 1983, was occupied. Only Turkey has recognized the TRNC. UN-mediated talks between the Greek and Turkish communities on the reunification of Cyprus were interrupted after the failure of another round held in the Swiss city of Crans-Montana in 2017. Attempts are currently being made to resume negotiations.
Greek Cypriots believe that the Cyprus problem can only be resolved on the basis of UN decisions within the framework of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. Turkish Cypriots advocated a confederation of Cyprus. The leader of the Turkish community, Ersin Tatar, stated that he would not return to the negotiating table until the equal sovereignty and international status of Turkish Cypriots was recognized.
