Cyprus remains on heightened alert one week after the outbreak of war in Iran. The presence of Greek defense assets and allies provides significant air cover for the island. However, attention is now focused on “the unpredictable strike. On what nobody expects,” Cypriot government sources characteristically tell parapolitika.gr.
Read: Cyprus: Missiles, drones and terrorist threats – Why the MI6 chief urgently arrives on the island
Cyprus: Christodoulides meeting with MI6 chief
Within this climate, the meeting between Cyprus President Nicos Christodoulides and MI6 chief Blaise Metreweli took place. The meeting lasted half an hour and, according to well-informed sources, its subject concerned only addressing a potential terrorist attack.
MI6 presence in Cyprus
British Secret Services have maintained intelligence centers in Cyprus since the Cold War era for gathering information, though these have declined in recent years. During these days of crisis, special MI6 teams appear to have been stationed at the British Embassy in Nicosia and, in cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus – which has developed counter-terrorism services – will collaborate to address any terrorist attack.
Cyprus displeasure over Akrotiri attack briefing
Despite excellent cooperation in recent days, relations between Cyprus and the United Kingdom went through a period of displeasure, mainly regarding the briefing the British provided about the attack on the British Base at Akrotiri last Sunday evening.
According to well-informed sources, although the British were notified of the first attack 35 minutes before impact, they did not in turn inform the Cypriot government, which learned of the event from Cypriot surveillance assets. “We first heard their public statements and then they contacted us. There was no coordination,” competent sources told parapolitika.gr.
The danger the island faced from Keir Starmer’s decision to allow American forces to use Akrotiri Base and the crisis management approach that emerged prove, for many in Cyprus, that remnants of a colonial past still exist. These were apparently the reasons that led the Cyprus President to leave open, through a public statement, the possibility of removing British Bases from Cyprus. However, according to credible analysts, such an issue will not be raised during the ongoing crisis.
What is certain is that International Law provides for this possibility, as a legal precedent was created in 2019 when Mauritius claimed through the International Court of Justice, following a UN General Assembly request, to take jurisdiction over the Chagos Archipelago administration from the United Kingdom. A dispute that had lasted years and thus ended the country’s decolonization.
No immediate base removal issue opening
However, during this critical period, no dialogue on this matter is expected to open, mainly due to the UK’s changed stance toward the Republic of Cyprus through the support it provides. The Cyprus President left the issue open, but the chapter on removing British Bases from Cyprus is not expected to open soon!
