Britain says it does not owe Cyprus money for Bases

THE BRITISH government responded to a House of Representatives resolution asking for the British Bases to pay up, saying that they had already fulfilled their financial obligations to Cyprus.

The resolution that was unanimously approved by the plenum on Thursday night called on the Republic to demand from the British government that they pay back all the money they owe Cyprus regarding the Bases.An official from the British Foreign Ministry said yesterday that they was aware of the resolution, but claimed that it was not an issue for Britain.

“We have taken it into account but we are satisfied that we have fulfilled our financial obligations to the Republic of Cyprus,” he told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).

House President Demetris Christofias followed the resolution with a call for the dissolution of the Bases and called for an indepth study into their status by legal experts since the Bases were also outside the EU. President Tassos Papadopoulos responded to the resolution on Friday by saying that the issue of the Bases is not as straight-forward as many people may think.

“The issue of the financial obligations for the use of territory of the Cypriot Republic is a difficult and complicated matter in all legal, practical and political aspects,” he said.

“There have been a number of studies from legal experts that have looked into the matter in the past. I am not sure everyone knows the implications of this financial dispute that may seem simple to others.”

The debate over the SBAs has re-surfaced mainly due to last week’s arrest of anti-British MEP Marios Matsakis, in front of a delegation of the European Parliament