zaman tüneli

israel leapfrogs greece as cyprus’ best defence ally

a significant change in sentiment regarding geopolitical relations was also recorded when respondents were asked the following: “generally speaking, in your opinion, is there a country that cyprus can rely on to strengthen its defence?”

israel was considered cyprus’ best ally for its defence, chosen by 41% of respondents, compared to only 9.5% in may 2024. greece came second with 27% (a significant drop from 45% two years ago). usa came third with 16.5%, (rising from 11%), while russia doubled its popularity coming fourth with 14% (compared to 7% previously). the eu saw a drop in ratings from 19% in 2024 to 13.5% today, as did france from 14% to 12%, and the uk from 2.5% to 1.5%. meanwhile, 4.5% said cyprus can only rely on its own defences (compared to 8% in 2024), and 16.5% said simply there is no country cyprus can rely on to strengthen its defence (compared to 19% previously).

ısrael’s rising popularity in cyprus was also reflected in a question on the cyprus-greece-ısrael trilateral cooperation, with 71% seeing it as ‘beneficial’ to cyprus’ interests, compared to 14% who say it is ‘not beneficial’, 9% who say it ‘neither beneficial nor not beneficial’ and 6% with ‘no opinion’.