In the US House of Representatives, on Wednesday afternoon, a bill was submitted for the complete lifting of the embargo on the sale of arms to the Republic of Cyprus and for the abolition of the annual renewal.
The bipartisan bill on the embargo on Cyprus entitled “Ending the Cyprus Embargo Act” was filed by US Congressmen Gus Bilirakis, Chris Papas, Dina Titus, and Nicole Malliotakis.
According to the existing legislation, the American president has assigned the State Department to certify every year that Cyprus continues to fulfill all the conditions included in the “East Med Act” bill in order to grant permission for the annual suspension (annual waver) of embargo. If the new bill is finally passed, it will effectively mean that the restrictions on lifting the embargo are removed, as the lifting will be automatically renewed every five years.
In this light, the American legislators consider that this is a logical step that comes in addition to the complete lifting of the embargo and 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 defense contracts. In addition, it is noted that the abolition of the annual renewal of the embargo lifting promotes the security interests of the United States in Europe, given that it contributes to the reduction of the existing dependencies for defense material that Cyprus has from countries that pose challenges to the interests of the United States.
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 State Partnership Program of Ministry of Defense.
• to join the Republic of Cyprus in the Cooperation for Peace program of NATO.
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 defense 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 American defense 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 end of the five years, the president will have to 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:
• anti-money laundering and financial regulatory oversight reform efforts.
• in not providing access to Russian military vessels in ports for refueling and servicing.
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