Earlier this month, CyprAm was fortunate to virtually host George Kremlis for a discussion on Cyprus and the intra-NATO, intra-EU relationships affecting it. George is a prominent figure in Greek and European international organizations and recently served as the Principal Advisor to the Greek Prime Minister on energy, climate, environment and circular economy issues, as well as Honorary Director of the European Commission.

Always an advocate for the EU, George expressed the desire to see it exert greater geopolitical influence globally. Together, we shared optimism for the development of EU defense programs, and regret at the under-involvement of Cyprus in Türkiye’s recent inclusion into the EU’s defense-cooperation framework. 

Ahead of any future agreements, George expressed the desire to see the Cyprus Problem a larger role in how the EU negotiates, stressing the opportunity factor that détente would have for the Greece-Cyprus-Türkiye relationship. We agreed that the failure to do so not only exacerbates the barriers to peaceful resolution in Cyprus, but limits the full potential of security cooperation regionally.

On NATO, George suggested the inclusion of Cyprus as a favored nation, in order to improve its own defense and leverage greater responsibility within EU initiatives like ReArm Europe. Doing so, he argued, would help ensure future consideration of Cyprus in defense cooperation decisions.

Finally, we discussed with George the potential that redeveloping the U.K.’s Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus as NATO garrisons could provide as part of comprehensive plan to coalesce the defense interests of Cyprus, Türkiye, and other NATO countries in support of a broader solution to the Cyprus Problem.