Emmanuel Macron has vowed that Europe will do whatever is necessary to support Cyprus, the continent’s first state directly affected by the Iran war, after suffering what he described as “a multiple drone and missile attack”.
In the strongest show yet of solidarity toward the EU member closest to the Middle East, Macron compared the attacks, which included a drone attack on a British base on the eastern Mediterranean island, to an attack on Europe.
“When Cyprus is attacked, it is Europe that is attacked,” the French president said, alongside the leaders of Greece and Cyprus at an air base in Paphos.
And he added: “The defense of Cyprus is obviously a key issue for your country, for its neighbor, partner and friend, Greece, but also for France and, with it, the European Union.”
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, echoed this sentiment, saying: “We will not accept that the smallest piece of European territory, like Cyprus, is exposed to danger.”
The visit came a week after a Shahed drone crashed into an RAF Akrotiri hangar, leaving a gaping hole in the building where US U-2 reconnaissance planes were reportedly parked.
Hours later, two more Iranian-made combat drones were intercepted off Cyprus by British fighter jets.
All three attacks had been launched from Lebanon, 150 miles east of the island, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told The Guardian.
Macron took advantage of the visit to Cyprus to announce that France and its allies were also preparing “a purely defensive, purely support mission” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where dozens of ships have been stranded since the start of the war. He said the mission would begin “as soon as possible after the most intense phase of the conflict ends.”
About 20 million barrels of oil – the equivalent of a fifth of the world’s seaborne crude supply – pass through the strait each day, and Greek tankers carry much of it due to the country’s dominant role in global shipping. Macron said reopening the artery was vital. “It is essential for international trade, but also for the flow of gas and oil, which must be able to leave this region once again,” he said.
France was one of the first nations in Europe to respond to a Cypriot request for military assistance, deploying air defense systems, a frigate and the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the region.
Mitsotakis had earlier ordered the dispatch of four F-16 fighter jets, now stationed in Paphos, and two frigates, including the Kimon, the “pride of the Greek fleet.”
Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Britain have also announced they will send warships and air assets as part of a coordinated effort to create a protective cordon around Cyprus. The United Kingdom has flown Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters capable of eliminating aerial threats and F-35 fighter jets to bolster protection of military installations in the 99 square mile area of territory it has retained since Cyprus gained independence in 1960.
The deployments, at a time when Europe’s relations with the United States have rarely been more tense, have underlined a determination to defend its borders, albeit after Cyprus had been attacked.
With the US-led offensive in its 10th day and Cypriot officials expressing little optimism that the war would end soon, analysts said Macron’s visit amounted to much more than symbolic politics.
“This is about Europe making its presence felt in the region when there are so many moving parts, so many unknowns,” said Cleopatra Kitti, senior policy adviser at Athens-based think tank Eliamep.
Before holding trilateral talks with his counterparts on Monday, the island’s president, Nikos Christodoulides, told reporters that the two leaders’ presence in Paphos highlighted the extent to which the country’s security had become the collective responsibility of the European Union.
He said: “This is the first time we have seen a response of this kind and I consider it to be of particular importance.”
