Cyprus was forced to postpone a meeting of the 27 national European affairs ministers scheduled for Monday and Tuesday to discuss the bloc’s seven-year budget and Ukraine and Moldova’s path to EU membership. Delegations from those countries had also been due in Nicosia.
A session of the bloc’s culture ministers was also scrapped, and ENISA, the EU’s cybersecurity agency, confirmed that its conference in the resort town of Ayia Napa on Wednesday would be postponed, with no new date announced. A rare disease summit set for Thursday was axed as well.
“This is the kind of thing that can change the EU’s entire agenda,” said a diplomat from another EU country, granted anonymity to speak freely. “From energy to transport to migration, the consequences could be enormous and Cyprus’ plans for its presidency may have to follow.”
Greece has sent warships and fighter jets to Cyprus after Iranian drones targeted British bases on the island, while France has dispatched frigates and pledged additional air defense systems. That comes after General Ebrahim Jabbari of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said “we will fire so many missiles toward Cyprus” that U.S. forces would be unable to use its airbases.
Airlines have canceled flights to the island, while the U.S. State Department on Wednesday urged Americans to reconsider travel there.
The EU’s easternmost member has long played a role in European and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, even floating its own peace plan for Gaza last year. When it took over the EU presidency at the start of the year, Cyprus’ Deputy European Affairs Minister Marilena Raouna said it would be a chance “to showcase the country we are today — stable, resilient, with one of the strongest European economies — and our strengths as the only EU member state in our region.”