Public debate over whether Cyprus should join Nato is “premature”, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Friday night.

 “At present, the government is “working to increase our compatibility with Nato member states, and Nato members include Greece and France – countries with which there is a traditional cooperation,” he said, addressing an event in Limassol.

“The more you deepen cooperation, the more you strengthen your national defence capability, and I do not think there is anyone who disagrees with that.”

He also pointed out that Cyprus is currently building stronger relations with the United States, and added, “we hope that some benefits will arise in terms of armaments, and there is also the issue of compatibility in terms of training”.

“What was identified as a gap was the divergence in terms of personnel training, and this is something we can work on in cooperation with the US, in the context of the strategic dialogue, and we hope it will continue to happen,” he said.

However, he did stress that Nato membership is not a goal which can be achieved in the short term.

“There is an impression that tomorrow or the day after we will officially go and submit the application, and this ignores reality. This does not mean that all the work and effort will lead there in the coming days or months. This is a discussion which will take place at the right time, taking into account the facts and a series of factors,” he said.

Those factors, he added, include the role of Turkey and the state of the Cyprus problem.

For this reason, he said, “I believe that public debate on the outcome and the political aspect is premature.

“It does not hurt to have it, but the government cannot right now have this debate and sit down and explain what the timing will be, the convergence of various forces, when we might think about it, and what we expect to see.”

Kombos’ comments come after Greek newspaper Kathimerini had claimed last week that President Nikos Christodoulides had presented a plan of Cyprus’ future accession to Nato to US President Joe Biden when they met in October.

Christodoulides then said on Thursday that Cyprus is getting ready to join Nato if and when Turkey withdraws its objections to Cypriot membership.

However, the Turkish defence ministry was quoted by Turkish newspaper Sozcu the same day as saying that Cypriot Nato membership would be “unacceptable” and that “such an attempt would disrupt the delicate balance on the Cyprus problem and negatively affect the process of working towards a solution”.

Christodoulides had said in October that relations between Cyprus and the US are now at a “historical high”, while also highlighting the two countries’ close cooperation on the matters of “defence and security, energy, law enforcement, technology and innovation”.

He added that at a regional level, Cyprus is a “predictable and reliable partner of the US” in what he described as a “region of great geopolitical importance”, highlighting that Cyprus is a member state of the European Union, and a country which enjoys “excellent relations with all of its neighbours”.