In an interview with the Cyprus News Agency on October 4, the new US ambassador to Cyprus, John Breslow, announced that the “Andreas Papandreou” air base in Paphos would soon be modernized so that it could accommodate large US military transport aircraft. He also reported that military cooperation would be expanded and that US warships would visit Cypriot ports more frequently.
But the most important of these announcements was: “The United States will protect Cyprus in the future.” Although this statement does not constitute an official security guarantee from the United States, it reflects the deepening cooperation between the two countries.
Years of non-alignment
For a country that maintained close ties with Moscow for decades, viewed US foreign policy with suspicion and is not a member of NATO, the prospect of an increased American military presence represents a significant geopolitical shift. This is perhaps the clearest sign of the gradual loosening of the Republic of Cyprus’s ties with Russia and its ever-closer rapprochement with the United States.