Cyprus–NATO relations explained

Cyprus – NATO relations
Party1:NATO
Party2:Cyprus
Map:Cyprus NATO Locator Lambert.svg

Cyprus is one of four European Union (EU) member states which is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the only one not to participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.[1] [2] The others are Austria, Ireland and Malta.

History

1949–1960: Period within NATO as a British crown colony

When NATO was founded in 1949, Cyprus was a crown colony of the United Kingdom and as such the UK's NATO membership also applied to British Cyprus.[3] [4]

In 1955 the Cyprus Emergency began, with Greek Cypriots waging an armed campaign to end British colonial rule and union with Greece. This led to intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, who opposed a union with Greece and instead fought for partition and partial union with Turkey. The London and Zürich Agreements of 1959 ended the conflict and led to Cyprus gaining its independence from the UK in 1960, but ruled out both a union with either Greece or Turkey and partition. The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus remained under British control as a British Overseas Territory following the independence of Cyprus.[5] [6] [7]

1960–2004: Independence and non-alignment

Following its independence, neighbouring Greece and Turkey (both NATO members) competed for influence in Cyprus.[8] [9] [10] The first President of the independent Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop of Cyprus Makarios III, attempted to maintain good relations with both states. While Greece and Turkey had agreed to support Cyprus joining NATO during negotiations for its independence,[11] Makarios adopted a policy of non-alignment.[12] In 1961 he took part in the founding meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade.[13] [14]

In 1974 Greece supported a Cypriot coup d'état, which ousted Makarios and replaced him with Nikos Sampson who aimed to unify the island with Greece. In response, Turky invaded Cyprus. While Makarios secured international recognition of his administration as the legitimate government of the whole island of Cyprus, Turkey continued to occupy Northern Cyprus. In 1983 the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established as a separate state, but it has only been recognized by Turkey.[15] [16]

Since the 1974 invasion, the main foreign policy goal of the Republic of Cyprus has been to secure the withdrawal of Turkish forces and the reunification of the island under the most favorable constitutional and territorial terms possible.[17] [18] This campaign has been pursued primarily through international forums such as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, and in recent years the European Union.[19] [20] [21]

2004–present: European Union membership

While Cyprus had historically followed a non-aligned foreign policy, it increasingly identified with the West in its cultural affinities and trade patterns, and maintains close relations with the rest of the European Union (including Greece), as well as Armenia, Lebanon, and Russia.[22] [23] [24] One of the requirements of the accession of Cyprus to the European Union in 2004 was for it to leave the Non-Aligned Movement.[25] [26] [27]

Cyprus is one out of four European Union (EU) member states outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the only one not to participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.[28] [29] [30]

Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, the EU mutual solidarity clause applies to Cyprus along with other EU member states:[31] [32]

Article 42.2 specifies however that NATO shall be the main forum for the implementation of collective self-defence for EU member states that are also NATO members.[33] The other EU member states that are outside NATO resort to the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP, which has a much smaller structures and capabilities than NATO's command structure) for the implementation of collective self-defence are Austria, Ireland, and Malta.

Integration into NATO

The ongoing Cyprus dispute complicates Cyprus' relations with NATO.[34] [35] Any treaty concerning Cyprus' participation in NATO, either as a full member, PfP or Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, would likely be vetoed by Turkey, a full member of NATO, unless the dispute is resolved first.[36] [37]

NATO membership for a reunified Cyprus has been proposed as a solution to the question of security guarantees, given that all three of the current guarantors under the Treaty of Guarantee (1960) (Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom) are already NATO members.[38] [39]

The Parliament of Cyprus voted in February 2011 to apply for membership of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. However, President Demetris Christofias vetoed the decision, arguing that it would hamper his attempts to negotiate an end to the dispute and demilitarize the island.[40] [41]

The winner of Cyprus' presidential election in February 2013, Nicos Anastasiades, stated that he intended to apply for membership in the PfP program soon after taking over.[42] [43] His foreign minister and successor Nicos Christodoulides dismissed Cypriot membership of NATO or Partnership for Peace, preferring to keep Cyprus’ foreign and defence affairs within the framework of the EU, i.e. the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).[44] [45]

In May 2022, Cyprus Defence Minister, Charalambos Petrides, confirmed that the country would not apply to NATO despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[46]

However, in late 2024, Christodoulides, who has since been elected president, revealed a long-term, multi-phase plan to deepen Cyprus' relation with NATO with possible future accession during his discussions with the US President Joe Biden. The first strategic phase of the plan sees Cyprus join preparatory organizations linked to NATO, while acknowledging the need to resolve the Cyprus dispute and improve the EU–Turkey relations. Practical steps of the plan include securing longer-term exemptions from the US arms embargo, expanding joint military training opportunities for the Cypriot National Guard at US military academies, and modernization of Cyprus' defense infrastructure to meet NATO standards.[47]

Cyprus's foreign relations with NATO member states

Since NATO member does not recognize the government of the Republic of Cyprus, Cyprus does not have diplomatic relations with Turkey.

See also

NATO relations of other EU member states outside NATO:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wemer . David . 2019-04-01 . NATO membership for Cyprus. Yes, Cyprus. . 2023-03-13 . Atlantic Council . en-US.
  2. Web site: Canada . NATO Association of . Partners for Peace?: Cyprus, NATO and the EU . 2023-03-14 . NAOC . 21 March 2013 . en-CA.
  3. Web site: On this day 16th August Royal Signals Museum . 2023-03-13 . en-GB.
  4. News: Smith . Helena . 2022-05-09 . Deal allows Cyprus to develop land in British sovereign base areas . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-03-14 . 0261-3077.
  5. Web site: Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas . 2022-05-06 . UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum . 29 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220429060956/https://www.ukotcf.org.uk/europe-territories/cyprus-sovereign-base-areas/ . live .
  6. Web site: Αυτοί είναι οι χάρτες των πολεοδομικών ζωνών στις Βάσεις (Pdf) . 2023-03-13 . www.brief.com.cy . en.
  7. Web site: 2013-07-31 . Οι βρετανικές βάσεις στην Κύπρο . 2023-03-13 . NGradio.gr . el.
  8. News: 1964-02-01 . US. JOINS BRITAIN IN MOVE TO SEND FORCE TO CYPRUS; Turkey Assents and Greece Is Reported Agreeable to NATO Peace Unit . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-13 . 0362-4331.
  9. News: 1964-08-18 . Greece Withdrawing Units From NATO to Aid Cyprus . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-13 . 0362-4331.
  10. Web site: 2019-08-08 . 55 χρόνια από τους βομβαρδισμούς της Τηλλυρίας . 2023-03-13 . euronews . el.
  11. Book: Tziarras, Zenonas. The Foreign Policy of the Republic of Cyprus: Local, Regional and International Dimensions. Springer Nature. 2022. 978-3-030-91177-5 . The question of whether the RoC should join NATO or not came again to the fore during the Zurich Conference (5-11 February 1959) held by Greece and Turkey. One of the articles in the "Gentle- men's Agreement" concluded by Konstantinos Karamanlis and Adnan Menderes, the Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey, respectively, stated that the two countries would support the accession of the RoC to NATO (Mallinson 2005, 49)..
  12. Web site: Newsroom . Makarios: Charismatic leader or architect of catastrophe? eKathimerini.com . 2023-03-13 . www.ekathimerini.com . English.
  13. Hatzivassiliou . Evanthis . 2005 . Cyprus at the Crossroads, 1959–63 . . 35 . 4 . 523–540. 10.1177/0265691405056875 . 143884601 .
  14. Web site: Belgrade, The 1961 Non-Aligned Conference Global South Studies, U.Va. . 2023-03-14 . globalsouthstudies.as.virginia.edu.
  15. Web site: The Moral Grounds for the EU's Obligation to End the Occupation of Northern Cyprus (ARI) . 2023-03-13 . Elcano Royal Institute . en-US.
  16. News: 2012-03-01 . Cyprus country profile . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-03-13.
  17. Web site: webteam . 2017-07-11 . "Δίκαιη και βιώσιμη λύση του Κυπριακού συνεπάγεται κατάργηση εγγυήσεων και αποχώρηση των κατοχικών στρατευμάτων" Ελληνική Κυβέρνηση . 2023-03-13 . el.
  18. Web site: Επιμονή σε λύση του Κυπριακού χωρίς εγγυήσεις και στρατό κατοχής . 2023-03-13 . www.brief.com.cy . en.
  19. Web site: Προεργασίες Χριστοδουλίδη για ενεργό εμπλοκή της ΕΕ στο Κυπριακό . Ant1live. 11 March 2023 .
  20. Web site: Βλέπει θετικά ο Στιούαρτ την εμπλοκή ΕΕ στο Κυπριακό Offsite . 2023-03-13 . www.offsite.com.cy . en.
  21. Web site: 2023-03-07 . Πολιτικές προσωπικότητες της ΕΕ για εμπλοκή στο Κυπριακό . 2023-03-13 . Stockwatch - Παράθυρο στην Οικονομία . el.
  22. Web site: 2023-01-19 . Αναστασιάδης: Δεν θα μπορούσαμε εμείς να είμαστε το στίγμα της Ευρώπης . 2023-03-13 . euronews . el.
  23. Web site: Έλλις . Αθανάσιος . Νίκος Αναστασιάδης στην "Κ": Η Κύπρος, αξιόπιστος εταίρος της Δύσης . 2023-03-13 . www.kathimerini.gr. 26 February 2023 .
  24. Web site: Sigmalive . ΠτΔ: Στενή η σχέση ανάμεσα σε Κύπρο και Λίβανο News . 2023-03-13 . www.sigmalive.com.
  25. Ker-Lindsay . James . Shifting alignments: the external orientation of Cyprus since independence . . 22 . 2 . 68.
  26. Web site: Cyprus and the EU – High Commission of Cyprus in the UK . 2023-03-13 . en-GB.
  27. Web site: Cyprus and the EU . 2023-03-13 . University of Nicosia Library . en.
  28. Web site: MATSAKIS . Marios . Parliamentary question Cyprus and Partnership for Peace (PfP) E-0571/2009 European Parliament . 2023-03-13 . www.europarl.europa.eu . en.
  29. Web site: What 6 countries are not in NATO? .
  30. Web site: Tidey . Alice . 2022-05-24 . As Sweden and Finland seek to join NATO, just 4 EU states could be left out of the alliance . 2023-03-14 . euronews . en.
  31. Web site: 2008-07-04 . Cyprus ratifies Lisbon treaty . 2023-03-13 . POLITICO . en.
  32. Web site: Understanding the Lisbon Treaty . 2023-03-13 . www.robert-schuman.eu.
  33. Web site: Mutual defence clause (Article 42.7 TEU) .
  34. News: 1974-08-13 . NATO Is Viewed as Weakened by the War on Cyprus . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-13 . 0362-4331.
  35. Web site: Sullivan . Jack . 2023-01-28 . Only America Can Resolve the Cyprus Question . 2023-03-14 . FDD . en.
  36. News: Between the European Union and NATO, Many Walls . Dempsey . Judy . 2010-11-24 . . 2014-03-28 . 31 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220331215418/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/world/europe/25iht-letter.html . live .
  37. News: Between the European Union and NATO, Many Walls. New York Times. Judy. Dempsey. 2012-11-24. 2012-07-19.
  38. Web site: NATO membership for Cyprus. Yes, Cyprus. . 2019-04-01 . 2022-06-13 . . 29 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220529020558/https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/nato-membership-for-cyprus/ . live .
  39. Web site: Wrießnig . Thomas . Cyprus, Is one of the oldest conflicts about to be resolved? .
  40. Web site: Cypriot parliament votes to join NATO's Partnership for Peace. 2011-02-25. 2012-07-19. SETimes.
  41. Web site: Cyprus - Vouli Antiprosopon (House of Representatives). 2013-02-24. Inter-Parliamentary Union.
  42. Web site: Cypriot conservative romps to presidential victory. Reuters. 2013-02-24. 2013-02-24. Kambas. Michele. Babington. Deepa.
  43. Web site: 2013-02-27 . Cypriots elect Anastasiades to presidency . 2023-03-14 . POLITICO . en.
  44. Web site: Cyprus dismisses reports on NATO scenarios. 2018-06-05. KNEWS - Kathimerini Cyprus. 2020-01-12.
  45. Web site: Solutions . BDigital Web . Cyprus dismisses reports on NATO scenarios . 2023-03-13 . knews.com.cy.
  46. Web site: Cyprus will not apply for Nato membership at the moment def minister says . 2022-05-19 . 2022-05-22 . Daily Cyprus . 19 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220519165702/https://daily-cyprus.com/cyprus-will-not-apply-for-nato-membership-at-the-moment-def-minister-says/ . live .
  47. News: Cyprus moves closer to NATO, talks begin on permanent U.S. military presence . 25 November 2024 . Kathimerini Cyprus . 25 November 2024.

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