Cyprus

Iranian-linked drones struck RAF Akrotiri on 1-2 March 2026, within days of the UK opening its Middle East bases to US operations. Cypriot authorities said the same day that two further drones heading for the base had been intercepted.

A further hit on the base was confirmed on 8 March. Hosting Akrotiri and Dhekelia under the 1960 Treaty of Establishment gives the Republic no say over how Britain uses them, yet the island absorbs the retaliation. Britain had refused Akrotiri for offensive strikes, but the distinction offered no protection once Iran treated European bases as targets.

On 15 July the island's licensed hotel sector called for a yearly limit on short lets, backed by inspections, fines and a nightly levy. Three days later Konstantinos Karakontis, president of the self-catering association, told Alpha TV that short lets had lost 10 to 15% in both occupancy and prices compared with a year earlier, which undercut the hoteliers' case that short lets were squeezing them.

The dispute rests on a registration gap. Only 8,500 properties hold licences, while 12,000 to 15,000 are advertised, so a third or more of the island's listings sit outside its licensing system. Cypriot newspapers use the acronym STEK for both trade bodies, blurring which of them speaks.

In July 2026 Cyprus sided with Greece and Malta in wanting the EU's $44.10 ceiling on Russian crude frozen for just three months, while the Commission sought to hold it until January 2027. On 15 July EU ambassadors froze the CAP for one week, to 23 July, halting an automatic update that would have lifted it towards roughly $58 a barrel.

The position follows from Cyprus's shipping interests. The island runs one of the EU's larger ship-registry and ship-management bases, so the length of any CAP freeze bears directly on business its fleet managers handle.