A new proposal which is to be submitted by the United States to the European Union is to boost the chances of a new road being built to connect Paphos with its airport, high-level sources said on Monday.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, the sources explained that the originally planned road had faced “environmental obstacles”, given that it would be required to cross over the Ezousa river near its estuary, which is a Natura 2000 protected area.

This fact would ordinarily mean that were the road to be built, the government would at the very least incur fines from the European Union.

However, as the sources explained, in the event that an infrastructure project is deemed to be “in the public interest” or necessary as part of national security infrastructure, and the EU accepts such a justification, the fines will be waived, and the project will be able to go ahead with no further such issues.

In the case of Paphos airport, the sources said that the US is to submit the proposal on account of the importance of the Andreas Papandreou airbase, which is located at the airport, to common security.

Should the road be constructed, it will effectively extend the existing Spyros Kyprianou avenue, which runs from the Kings Avenue Mall to the Ezousa river, to continue as far as the airport.

The move comes as Cyrpus bolsters its defence cooperation with the US, with plans afoot for upgrades worth between €10 million and €14m to the Andreas Papandreou airbase.

Earlier in the year, President Nikos Christodoulides had suggested that he US may offer financial assistance to the Republic of Cyprus to assist with the upgrades to both the Andreas Papandreou airbase, and the Evangelos Florakis naval base in Mari.

Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas had said that upgrades at Mari may cost in excess of €200 million.

Aside from upgrades to the bases, military ties between Cyprus and the US have been strengthened in recent months, with the US having authorised Cyprus to buy military hardware directly from the United States government after joining three programmes run by the country’s department of defence.

The country was incorporated into the US defence security cooperation agency’s foreign military sales (FMS) programme, its excess defence articles (EDA) programme, and will be allocated resources under the US’ ‘Title 10’ security assistance provisions.

It is the inclusion into the FMS programme which will allow the government to purchase military hardware directly from the US government, with the country previously having only been able to buy US military hardware from private companies.

Being able to circumvent private companies will allow the government to buy weapons and other hardware at cheaper prices than before, given that the US government typically acquires its apparatus in bulk, and is thus able to sell it on for cheaper prices than what private companies would offer to a military of the national guard’s size.

Amid this heightened cooperation, Palmas had been keen to stress earlier this month that both the airbase in Paphos and the naval base in Mari are “of Cypriot interest and Cypriot ownership”, and that the bases “will not be transferred out of Cypriot hands, regardless of our cooperation with the Americans and the Europeans”.

“We will continue to serve allies in terms of training, information exchange, and in broader missions, including the removal of their citizens from crisis areas,” he said.