US Funds Cyprus Base Upgrades for Evacuations, Aid

PAPHOS, Cyprus -- With funding from the United States, Cyprus is enhancing two key military bases to bolster its role as a regional hub for evacuating people from Middle Eastern conflicts and delivering humanitarian aid.

The upgrades, part of a broader initiative supported by the U.S. European Command, target the Evangelos Florakis naval base and the Andreas Papandreou air base. Located just 142 miles from Lebanon's coast, the naval base will receive a new heliport designed to handle large transport helicopters, such as Chinook models, for rapid evacuations from crisis zones. Additional improvements include revamped port facilities to accommodate larger warships, like frigates, which can provide radar and missile defenses for incoming and outgoing aircraft. In the island's southwest, the air base will expand with a new apron allowing dozens of heavy-lift military transport planes to refuel and undergo maintenance efficiently during humanitarian missions.

Construction on both projects is set to begin next year, though exact costs remain undisclosed pending assessments. Lt. Col. Paris Samoutis, a spokesperson for the Cyprus National Guard, said the U.S. has allocated 500,000 euros...