President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday said he has a “specific plan” for the future of the two British bases areas in Cyprus, with the government continuing its push for a re-evaluation of their status.

“I have said from the beginning that when this state of affairs is completed, we will move on the basis of a specific plan and design, for which the preparatory work began even before the public statement I had made,” he said during a visit to the Ayia Napa Marina, which will host this month’s informal European Council summit.

Asked if his plans for the bases’ future may with the European Union’s support, he pointed out the reference to the bases in the conclusions of the most recent European Council summit, held in Brussels last month.

The council, he said, “clearly records that it sees the intention of the Republic of Cyprus”.

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“I consider this specific reference to be of particular added value,” he added.

The European Council had declared last month that it stands ready to assist” the Cypriot government in discussions regarding the bases’ future and stating that it “acknowledges the intention of Cyprus to initiate a discussion with the UK” on the matter.

Prior to that summit, Christodoulides had promised that “we are going to have an open and frank discussion with the British government” over the future of the bases.

Those comments come a day after he had described the bases as a “colonial remnant”, though he did say that the “level of cooperation” between the British and Cypriot governments is “extremely positive”.

Later, deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou said that the government has sought and received legal advice regarding the treaty which established the bases, adding that “the issue of security is complex and will be the subject of discussion with the British side”.

The Treaty of Establishment of the Republic of Cyprus entered force in 1960, having been signed by the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities of the day Archbishop Makarios III and Dr Fazil Kucuk, who would go on to become the republic’s first president and vice president.

Its first article states that “the territory of the Republic of Cyprus shall comprise the island of Cyprus, together with the islands lying off its coast, with the exception of the two areas … which shall remain under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom” – the base areas in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

In a later article, the same treaty states that “the United Kingdom authorities shall have the right for United Kingdom military aircraft to fly in the airspace over the territory of the Republic of Cyprus without restriction other than to have due regard for the safety of other aircraft and the safety of life and property in the Republic of Cyprus”.