The complete lift of the arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus and the abolition of its annual renewal is provided for in a bill introduced in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday afternoon.

The bipartisan bill “Ending the Cyprus Embargo Act” was filed by MPs Gus Bilirakis, Chris Papas, Dina Titus and Nicole Malliotakis.

According to current legislation, the US President has assigned the State Department to certify every year that Cyprus continues to fulfill all the conditions included in the “East Med Act”, in order to grant permission for the annual waver of the embargo.

If the new bill eventually passes, it will effectively mean that the restrictions on lifting the embargo are lifted, as the lift will be automatically renewed every five years.

In this light, the US legislators consider that this is a reasonable step that comes in addition to the complete lift of the embargo, but also the fulfillment of all obligations on the part of Cyprus. In this way, they estimate that a longer-term planning will be possible with the aim of better coordinating the cooperation between Washington and Nicosia in the field of security.

As noted in the bill, the sense in Congress is that Cyprus has successfully complied with the terms set forth in the East Med Act of 2019 regarding defence contracts.

In addition, it is noted that the abolition of the annual renewal of the embargo lift promotes the security interests of the United States in Europe, given that it contributes to the reduction of the existing dependencies for defence material that Cyprus has from countries that pose challenges to the interests of the United States.

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Therefore, it is noted that it is in the interest of the US to:

• continue to support the efforts facilitated by the United Nations for a comprehensive settlement to the problem of the partition of Cyprus;
• strengthen the strategic partnership and security relationship between the United States and the Republic of Cyprus, as provided for in the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Cooperation Act of 2019;
• enhance cooperation between the United States Armed Forces and the National Guard of the Republic of Cyprus and enhance existing programs, such as joint training between the National Guard of the Republic of Cyprus and the State of New Jersey under the auspices of the Department of Defence’s State Partnership Program;
• the Republic of Cyprus to join the Cooperation for Peace program of NATO.

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What does the bill provide?

As noted, from the date this bill is enacted, the US Secretary of State will not be able to refuse exports, re-exports or transfers of defence equipment and services destined for or originating from the Republic of Cyprus.

This covers cases where the request is made by or on behalf of Cyprus. Also, a basic condition is that the final user of the US defence equipment or services will be the Republic of Cyprus itself.

However, the US government will not be constrained by the new law if a possible refusal to sell arms is for political reasons based on credible concerns about human rights violations. It also provides that the US President will have the ability to suspend the provisions of the law for the period of one fiscal year if he determines that doing so is necessary in the national security interests of the United States.

Finally, the bill offers the ability for the US President to end the automatic renewal of the embargo lifting after a period of five years. This option is activated after five years from the enactment of the bill and will be renewable again after the expiration of the following five-year periods.

However, it is foreseen that shortly before the expiration of the five-year period, the President should submit to the relevant committees of the House and the Senate (Foreign Relations and Armed Forces Committees) a certification that the government of the Republic of Cyprus is no longer cooperating with the US government:

• on anti-money laundering reform efforts and on financial regulatory oversight issues;
• in not giving Russian military vessels access to ports for resupply and servicing.

Source: Euronews

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