Norway’s decision to lift its arms embargo on Cyprus is a “good development”, Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas said on Saturday.
“Norway had decided in areas where there are war situations to have an embargo on equipment, and after 65 years, we are pleased to report that the Norwegian government’s decision is to lift the embargo … We consider it a good development,” he said during a visit to Paphos’ Andreas Papandreou airbase.
He also made reference to the fact that the United States had in September extended the suspension on its arms embargo on Cyprus for another year, and that a bill has been put forward in the US Senate which would see the embargo be suspended for five years at a time.
That bill is now on the Senate’s order paper, having been put forward by the Senate’s foreign relations committee on October 30.
Should it be passed into law, Palmas said, it will be “very helpful for the better organisation and utilisation of the needs of the National Guard”.
However, the US government remains shut down, with the country’s two main political parties yet to be able to agree to pass a state budget for next year.
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide had informed President Nikos Christodoulides on Friday of his country’s decision to lift its arms embargo on Cyprus, with Christodoulides describing the move as “an important step towards enhancing bilateral defence cooperation”.
“I warmly welcome Norway’s decision … to open applications for the export of defence-related and dual-use products for military use to Cyprus. A significant step in strengthening our bilateral defence cooperation,” Christodoulides said.
However, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel was less than impressed by the move, describing it as an “extremely unfortunate step”, and decrying the fact that Eide had previously served as the United Nations’ special adviser on Cyprus before taking up his current post.
“The fact that this decision was announced by someone who had previously served in Cyprus as a ‘peace envoy’ for the United Nations has created a serious contradiction in terms of international diplomacy. This approach, which disregards the security of the Turkish Cypriot people and the delicate balance on the island, is incompatible with the principles of neutrality,” he said.
Palmas’ visit to the Andreas Papandreou airbase comes as the government mulls a potential €14 million worth of upgrades to it. Christodoulides had suggested that the US may offer Cyprus financial assistance for the upgrade of both the Andreas Papandreou airbase and the Evangelos Florakis naval base in Mari.
Previously, Palmas had suggested that the upgrades at Mari may cost in excess of €200 million.
