Macron to visit Cyprus as France deploys warships to Mediterranean
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French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in France in March. He will meet his Cypriot counterpart and the Greek PM to show “solidarity”, the Elysee said on March 8.
PHOTO: EPA
PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Cyprus on March 9, his office said, as France deploys warships to the Mediterranean following a drone attack on the island European Union member days ago.
Mr Macron will meet his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paphos to show “solidarity” and detail moves to “strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean”, the Elysee said on March 8.
The visit will take place as the war pitting the US and Israel against Iran is in its second week, affecting much of the Middle East.
Cyprus on March 2 was targeted by Iranian-made drones, leading Mr Macron to order France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean, and a frigate and air defence units to Cyprus.
“This trip is intended to demonstrate France’s solidarity with Cyprus, a member state of the European Union with which we have a strategic partnership” and which was recently hit “by several drones and missile strikes”, the Elysee said.
France has insisted its stance in the region is “strictly defensive”.
The visit to Cyprus will also allow Mr Macron “to emphasise the importance of guaranteeing freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, in particular through the European Union’s Aspides maritime operation”, it added.
Numerous attacks have struck ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint in the Gulf, since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on Feb 28.
A government spokesman for Cyprus, Mr Konstantinos Letymbiotis, said the visit will allow the leaders of Cyprus, Greece, and France to assess the “high level of coordination” between their nations.
A Greek frigate docked at a port in Cyprus in March. A government spokesman for Cyprus said the French President’s visit will let the leaders of Cyprus, Greece, and France to assess the “high level of coordination” between their nations.
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Letymbiotis also highlighted the role of Italy which, like Britain, has deployed a warship to Cyprus.
On March 8, Mr Macron wrote on X that he had also spoken with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al Thani, and the presidents of Egypt and Azerbaijan.
Discussing the region with the Qatari ruler, Mr Macron said he highlighted France’s “defensive military support”, particularly in the air, which he noted is deployed to the “benefit of Qatar”.
“Qatar and France share the same conviction: beyond the clamour of arms, lasting stability for all must come through de-escalation and negotiation,” Mr Macron added.
Mr Macron also said he offered France’s “support and solidarity” to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev after a drone strike on the country, which neighbours Iran, raised fears that the Middle East war could spill into the Caucasus.
With Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, he discussed “the importance of securing as quickly as possible the maritime transport in the Red Sea”, including for energy resources, Mr Macron said on X. AFP
