A reported shift in France’s position on the possible sale of advanced SAMP/T air defence systems to Turkey is likely to attract close attention in Cyprus, amid deepening defence ties between Nicosia and Paris and broader efforts by the European Union to strengthen its security architecture.

According to a Reuters report published on Monday, and ahead of this week’s Nato summit in Ankara with defence industry and investment heading the agenda, France is now open to the possibility of selling the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defence system to Turkey after years of political opposition, potentially paving the way for more substantive talks with Ankara.

Earlier this year, Cyprus and France signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), deepening defence cooperation and further consolidating France’s strategic presence in the Eastern Mediterranean.

According to the Reuters report however, two sources cautioned that France would need to appease Greece and Cyprus over any potential sale given the SOFA with both countries.

Turkish officials privately and publicly regarded France as the principal political obstacle to the programme, while Italy has long been in favour of sharing the SAMP/T with Turkey to deepen defence industry cooperation.

Reuters reported that the change in position followed talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a summit on June 25, although negotiations remain at an early stage.

“Before, there was a clear lack of openness, now there is openness,” one source familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

The report said that Paris had set aside some of the political reservations that had previously blocked progress, although hesitations remained.

The French presidency did not confirm the information and referred to “significant inaccuracies”, without specifying what these were.

Senior Policy Advisor and Head of the Observatory of Geopolitics and Diplomacy at the Hellenic Foundation for Foreign and European Policy Ino Afentouli told the Cyprus Mail that “many EU member states consider Turkey an indispensable component of European defence because of its military capabilities”.

She added that “if we end up with many countries cooperating with Turkey, as is happening with Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland, there will be pressure for special arrangements”.

In that context, Cyprus and Greece may need to consider whether their consent could be exchanged for political concessions elsewhere.

Cyprus Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas told the Cyprus Mail that Cyprus would continue strengthening its defence capabilities and domestic defence industry through European initiatives, stressing that the Republic would not seek permission from third countries regarding decisions affecting its national security.

Turkey, France and Italy launched cooperation on a possible long-range air defence programme between 2017 and 2018, including studies into co-development and co-production.

However, the project stalled as relations between Paris and Ankara deteriorated over Syria, Libya and disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean involving Greece and Cyprus.

The SAMP/T system, also known as Mamba, is produced by the Franco-Italian Eurosam consortium, which brings together MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales. It is widely regarded as Europe’s closest equivalent to the US Patriot air defence system.

The system can track dozens of targets simultaneously, intercept multiple threats at once and is the only European-made system that claims to be able to intercept ballistic missiles.

Turkey has been seeking the system as part of its planned Steel Dome integrated air and missile-defence network.