Britain’s Minister of State for Europe and North America, Stephen Doughty, has visited RAF Akrotiri to reassure British personnel, their families and local Cypriot communities following a drone strike on the base amid the US-led war against Iran.
Doughty, who gave an interview to ITV on occasion of the visit, said he had already made a direct security commitment to his Cypriot counterpart, with whom he speaks regularly, and was due to meet him again the following day. “I’ve absolutely made that commitment to him,” he said.
He said the sovereign base areas were not going anywhere. “These bases are crucial,” he argued, “for wider security across the eastern Mediterranean and for European security,” he said, adding that measures had been put in place and would continue to be to ensure safety and security at the site. “I’m confident that they will remain,” he added.
The drone strike has reignited debate in Cyprus about whether the British bases should remain. Asked about Cypriot politicians who have publicly questioned their future, Doughty said he met a range of Cypriot politicians and would do so again the following day, acknowledging that people were entitled to hold differing views. “I’m confident these bases are absolutely secure, that they’re contributing not only to our security, but the security of the wider region,” he said, adding that the UK was deepening its security relationship with Cyprus.
During the visit Doughty met Cypriots from the local community, including those whose families had worked at the bases across generations. He described the UK-Cyprus relationship as “long, deep, historical and abiding,” pointing to ties across trade, tourism and people-to-people links, and to Cypriot communities in his own constituency in Wales.
He said ministerial visits of this kind served a dual purpose — listening directly to the concerns of those living and working near the bases and reassuring them about the steps the UK had taken and intended to take. “I think it’s important that ministers come out and speak and hear directly from people and understand their fears and their concerns,” he said.
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