Nicosia, Cyprus. UK Minister of State for Europe Stephen Doughty is set to visit Cyprus on Wednesday, according to reports. He is expected to travel from Paphos to Akrotiri and then to Nicosia for meetings with Cypriot officials and party leaders.
Planned itinerary and meetings
The Cyprus News Agency reported that Doughty will land at Paphos airport on Wednesday afternoon, visit the British Akrotiri air force base, and then travel to Nicosia. In Nicosia, he is expected to meet Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, House President Annita Demetriou, and Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou.
Akrotiri incident and UK deployments
Doughty told the British parliament on Monday evening that he is in “regular contact” with Kombos in light of an Iranian-made drone having hit the Akrotiri base on March 2, and with the conflict in the Middle East ongoing.
He will be the second UK government minister to visit Cyprus this month, after Defence Secretary John Healey travelled to the island to meet his Cypriot counterpart Vasilis Palmas and visit Akrotiri on March 5.
Since then, the UK has deployed military assets to the region, including the Type 45 destroyer warship the HMS Dragon, three AW159 Wildcat helicopters, and a Merlin Mk2 helicopter. Healey also said that “top experts” from the UK had arrived in Cyprus to coordinate the bases’ air defence.
Cyprus problem role and upcoming UN meeting
Doughty is the usual British point of contact regarding the Cyprus problem, with the UK remaining one of the island’s three guarantor powers alongside Greece and Turkey.
No arrangements have been made for him to meet Turkish Cypriot officials, with Doughty last having spoken with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman in December.
The next juncture on the Cyprus problem will see President Nikos Christodoulides meet United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Brussels on Wednesday. Ahead of that meeting, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said an enlarged meeting involving the island’s two sides, the UN, and the three guarantor powers “can act as a catalyst for achieving substantial progress”.
In January, UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin said no enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem could be held until more before “results on the confidence-building measures” between the island’s two sides are achieved.
What do you expect will be the main focus of Stephen Doughty’s meetings in Cyprus?
