NICOSIA (Reuters) – A military assessment team from the United States will be in Cyprus this week as part of defence upgrades, Cypriot officials said on Tuesday, following an announcement from Washington of cooperation with the Mediterranean island.
The evaluation team, based in Germany, would provide know-how and recommendations on infrastructure projects to enhance interoperability with the United States and other partners, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said.
“The upgrading of infrastructure, the supply of modern means and the investment in training are key pillars of our national strategy for an effective and flexible defence,” Letymbiotis told a news briefing.
The assessment will take place at a military base in the western district of Paphos.
Strategically perched on the edge of the volatile Middle East, European Union member Cyprus has played a central role in evacuating civilians from the region during the many flare-ups in tensions.
Last year, it established a humanitarian aid corridor to Gaza, where a ceasefire deal came into effect on Sunday.
Relations between the U.S. and Cyprus have grown closer in recent years and are closely followed by Turkey, which invaded Cyprus’s northern third in 1974 after a brief Greek inspired coup. Both Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state it supports in north Cyprus have criticised cooperation.
Part of the assessment will look at the potential to upgrade landing facilities at the airbase to allow for large-scale evacuation operations from the region if needed, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The source asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas; editing by Barbara Lewis)
