Akrotiri residents to protest Saturday over new British Bases antennas

Local British BasesprotestTop News Akrotiri residents to protest Saturday over new British Bases antennas Akrotiri Antenna Protest Saturday Sbaa Response Relevant News Akrotiri residents to protest Saturday over new British Bases antennas 7 August 2026 Cyprus passport climbs to 13th in 2026 Henley Index 7 August 2026 Heatwaves expose overcrowding crisis in Europe’s ageing prisons 7 August 2026 Ioanna Mantzipa 7 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Akrotiri residents and Kourion Municipality are holding a protest on Saturday, August 8 at 9:30am against British Bases plans to install new antennas in the area, starting from the first entrance to the Akrotiri Municipal District. The decision to escalate came at a village-wide meeting held in early July, which voted unanimously to pursue marches and legal action. Kourion Mayor Pantelis Georgiou, following the July meeting, had told colleague Ioanna Mantzipa that the municipality sees the planned expansion of the British Bases’ facilities as working against the area’s rational development. “The erection of new antennas is essentially militarising the Akrotiri area further,” he said. He called on the government to back the municipality’s request to cancel the decision to install what he described as spying antennas, and urged the public to turn out in force for Saturday’s protest. SBAA statement on Saturday’s protest Responding to Saturday’s planned protest, an SBAA spokesperson said the Administration respects the right to peaceful, lawful protest. The spokesperson said the project is subject to a statutory environmental process and public consultation, and that the Administration is awaiting the necessary applications from the project sponsor before those procedures begin. The Administration has told the Government of the Republic of Cyprus that it would be willing to co-sponsor a further independent study, the spokesperson added, and said it remains committed to delivering the project responsibly and in close cooperation with local partners and communities. SBAA’s past response The Sovereign Base Area Administration (SBAA) has also previously issued a statement responding to the community reaction, describing the works as the modernisation of existing infrastructure at the Akrotiri Salt Lake site. The SBAA had acknowledged that additional land acquisition would be required, saying the process would follow established legal and administrative procedures and involve engagement with affected landowners, including consideration of any compensation due. On residents’ cancer concerns, the SBAA had cited a publicly available 2007 study published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, which it said found “no excess of cancer, birth defects or obstetric problems” linked to the installations. The SBAA said existing monitoring arrangements, including within the village of Akrotiri, continually provide emissions data to the relevant Republic of Cyprus authorities, and it offered to install additional monitoring units across the Salt Lake site. The SBAA’s statement did not address the 32 antennas cited in Phileleftheros’s original report, the legal challenges launched by Kourion Municipality and the Merra Akrotiri Management Committee, or the community’s stated intention to pursue the matter before the European Court of Human Rights. A growing dispute According to information gathered by Phileleftheros colleague Ioanna Mantzipa, the municipality has received assurances that no work will begin until all required studies into public health and environmental impact have been completed and approved. Local authorities’ concerns have already been passed on to the Foreign Ministry, and the British Bases have reportedly given a similar assurance. Residents first mobilised against plans to install 32 additional antennas, citing what they described as elevated cancer rates in the community and vowing to take the fight as far as the ECHR. The Bases intend to compulsorily acquire approximately 4,896,000 square feet of community land. Both the Merra Akrotiri Management Committee and Kourion Municipality have launched separate legal challenges, engaging lawyers Simos Angelides and Achilleas Demetriades respectively, with the latter aiming to bring the matter before the ECHR. Meetings have been requested with the President, the Foreign Ministry and other relevant ministries. Georgiou has separately said the project has grown well beyond what was initially presented, from a limited replacement of existing antennas to what he called “a ten-year project” involving 68 new antennas in the first phase and another 68 in the second, with a third phase still not fully outlined to the municipality. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Cyprus passport climbs to 13th in 2026 Henley Index Heatwaves expose overcrowding crisis in Europe’s ageing prisons Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan to sign joint defence deal amid regional turmoil Thai teen kills 7 in rampage at home and school before shooting himself Overnight pharmacies on Friday, August 7 Consumer satisfaction survey: what shapes mobile provider choice in Cyprus Guards’ union: inmates sleep on ‘potato crates’ amid severe overcrowding Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.