Thread by @Edourdooo

#Cyprus, long known as “Moscow on the Med” for its popularity with Russians, has had some of the closest political ties to Russia of any EU member state but is trying to preserve EU unity towards Moscow.
ft.com/content/4e537b…

Since Cyprus became independent in the 1960s, “Russia has penetrated the entire spectrum of political life, economic activity, the country’s media and its church”, said Makarios Drousiotis, a writer and investigative journalist on the island.

Politically, Cyprus has long viewed Russia as a potentially useful ally over its longstanding dispute with Turkey, which invaded the north of Cyprus in 1974.

However, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Cyprus toed the EU line in sanctions against Moscow.

Russians account for more than 20% of visitors, and tourism this year had been expected to benefit from direct flights from Russian cities. Much of that will disappear.

Cyprus has long served as a banking home for the gray fortunes of Russian investors, from arms dealers to gambling firms and pornographic websites. In the early 1990s, post-Soviet figures like Slobodan Milošević traveled to the island with cash-filled suitcases.

Cypriot authorities were initially against banning major Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment network, a key driver of global business, before later coming around.

In some ways, those ties became stronger after 2003, when Putin started to curtail the independence of Russia’s oligarchs. Numerous prominent Russian executives decided to shift their finances out of the country. One of their preferred places to park funds? Cyprus.

Limassol, in particular, is a hub for the country’s Russian community. With a coastal, Miami-like vibe, the city is home to luxurious apartments and mega yachts owned by Russians and Cypriots alike.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which was conducted using the country’s alleged “genocide” against Russian speakers in separatist regions as pretext, mirrors Turkey’s claims in 1974 that they invaded Cyprus due to alleged crimes against Turkish Cypriots.