A bill tabled in the House of Representatives by Greek leaders in Congress proposes the permanent lifting of the arms embargo imposed by the US on Cyprus.
The US has already lifted the embargo, however, it needs to be renewed annually, which makes long-term planning difficult.
The US imposed an embargo on the Republic in 1987, aiming to prevent an arms race between Greece and Cyprus on the one hand and Turkey on the other, and to encourage a peaceful settlement between the Greek majority and the Turkish minority of the island.
The initiative by the Congressional Hellenic Caucus provides for the lifting of restrictions and exemptions concerning the transfer of defense equipment and military assistance to Cyprus.
In practice, what is being requested is the abolition of the annual renewal of the waiver, which has been in place for five years in application of the provisions of the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019, and its replacement by a permanent abolition.
This bill amends Section 1250A of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2020.
Partial lifting of the arms embargo for Cyprus in 2019
The partial lifting of the embargo was made possible in 2019 through the EastMed Act, which provided that the lifting of restrictions on the export, re-export or transfer of US arms to Cyprus “would advance the security interests of the United States in Europe by helping to reduce the dependence of the Republic of Cyprus on other countries, including countries that pose challenges to American interests throughout the world.”
At that time, it was stipulated that the US President was required to certify on an annual basis to the relevant committees of Congress, namely the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees of the Senate and the Foreign Affairs and Armed Forces committees of the House of Representatives, that the government of the Republic of Cyprus meets two conditions:
“First, it continues to cooperate with the United States government in efforts to implement reforms regarding regulations to combat money laundering and the supervision of financial regulation. And second, it continues to take the necessary measures to prohibit access by Russian military vessels to the ports of Cyprus.”
The fact that Cyprus has fully implemented these conditions, combined with the new upgraded role that the US attributes to it in the region and the new regional balances under formation, make the embargo itself—as well as the so-called waivers that have been in force in recent years—completely anachronistic, having long ceased to serve American interests.
Congress resolution urges Trump to work for a Cyprus solution
In a parallel development, four Greek American US Representatives introduced a bipartisan resolution in Congress recently calling on President-elect Trump to work for a Cyprus solution.
The resolution tabled by Nicole Malliotakis, Gus Bilirakis, Chris Pappas and Dina Titus condemns Turkey’s ongoing occupation of one-third of the island while urging Donald Trump to make a solution for Cyprus a top US foreign policy priority.
The resolution also aims at the policies of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s government, stressing that the latter “bases his policy on an extreme form of religious nationalism and seeks to establish himself as a hegemonic power in the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Caucasus.”
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