The legal status of the two British bases in Cyprus is “non-negotiable,” UK Armed Forces Minister Al Carnes said on Sunday.The legal status of the two British bases in Cyprus is “non-negotiable,” UK Armed Forces Minister Al Carnes said on Sunday. The comment comes weeks after President Nikos Christodoulides said that his country wanted “an open and frank discussion with the British government” over the future of the bases in Cyprus. “We have to be really clear on this, the legal status of the sovereign base areas is rock solid,” Carnes told The Telegraph in an interview published Sunday. “What we’re seeing because of the threat that has been posed, for the first time in a long time, is the Cypriots, the Brits and other allies coming together to work on an integrated plan to defend the capabilities here,” he added. “I think we’ll see a lot of positives. We can understand some of the frictions but the reality is the legal basis of these sovereign territories is non-negotiable.” Questions over Britain’s military bases on the island come in the aftermath of a drone attack on the Akrotiri air force base on March 2. The Iranian-made drone is believed to have been fired by Iranian proxy Hezbollah from Lebanon. Nobody was injured but the incident raised concerns that Cyprus could become a target amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
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