Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 10 October 2016: Russia to establish permanent naval base in Syria

In a meeting of the international affairs committee of the Federation Council of Russia deputy defence minister Nikolai Pankov announced a plan to establish a permanent naval base in Tartus in Syria. According to Pankov, the preparations for the base are relatively advanced and the project should be approved soon. Russia is currently using Tartus naval facilities, but they date from 1970s and require modernisation and enlargement in order to accommodate larger warships.

Establishing a permanent base in Tartus would increase Russian power projection capabilities in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. Russia intervened militarily in Syria in support of president Bashar al-Asad in September 2015 and since then it maintains considerable military presence in the country. Presently the Hmeimin air base in coastal Latakia province acts as he hub of Russian military operations.

Pankov has also argued that Russia will attempt to re-establish military bases in countries which maintained such cooperation with the Soviet Union. On Monday, Russian daily Izviestia claimed that Egypt is close to leasing out a base in Sidi Barani, used by the Soviet Union before 1972, to Russia. However, the spokesman to Egypt’s president categorically denied these reports, while according to sources in Egyptian army it would be impossible for any country to establish a military base on Egypt’s soil.