Government taking measures in case of no-deal Brexit

By Maria Koniotou

The government of Cyprus has taken the necessary measures to address repercussions of a possible disorderly Brexit, government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said on Friday.

Asked about the possibility of a Brexit without an agreement on October 31, Prodromou said that the Council of Ministers has taken decisions related to various fields that will be affected by Brexit, “with a view to be prepared for such a negative scenario”.

He noted that the common position of the Cyprus government as well as of the whole EU is that what is desired and needed is to reach an agreement. “A UK withdrawal without an agreement will be detrimental,” he noted.

Moreover, he said that the government’s position is identical with the EU position in that the agreement that has been achieved through difficult and long negotiations is the one which must be put into force and there is no possibility for any other agreement.

We hope that prudence and rational thinking will prevail and that the new British government and Brussels will reach a consensus, the spokesman noted, adding that even in the undesirable case of a disorderly Brexit, which has been a possibility for some time now, the government has taken the necessary measures.

Prodromou also said that the agreement reached between the Republic of Cyprus and the UK, in the framework of the general UK-EU agreement is a good one both for Britons living in Cyprus and Cypriots living in the UK, as well as for the relations between the two countries, given the fact that there are British military bases on the island.

In case that there is no general agreement, the goal will be for this bilateral agreement to apply, he added.

Prodromou assured Britons living in Cyprus and Cypriots in the UK that the government has been working so that they will be least affected by any developments related to Brexit.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.