The Iran war has demonstrated to Cyprus that the EU was already an alternative defence union to Nato, the island\u2019s president said in Brussels on Wednesday (18 March), even as the US president derided previous Western allies.<\/p>\n
When Iran fired at Cyprus<\/a> on 1 March and Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides called for EU help \u201cGreece, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands immediately reacted positively to my request and deployed means and personnel to enhance the defence and security of Cyprus,\u201d he said at a think-tank event in Brussels on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cCypriots will never, never, forget this act of solidarity in action, not just statements \u2014 it deeply touched my people,\u201d he said at the European Policy Centre (EPC) meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe may not have triggered Article 42(7) \u2014 which states that if a member state is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other EU member states have an obligation to provide aid and assistance \u2014 but Cyprus essentially tested Article 42(7). And we did so successfully,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The EU-treaty article is a mirror image of the Article V mutual defence clause in the Nato treaty, of which Cyprus is not a member.<\/p>\n \u201cWe \u2026 gave flesh and bones to the [EU\u2019s] mutual assistance clause,\u201d Christodoulides said.<\/p>\n France, Greece, Germany, Italy, and Spain have sent warships and air-defences to Cyprus, after Iran fired two drones and two missiles in its direction because it hosted a British military base<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Cypriot EU presidency has cancelled all EU meetings on the island until at least April due to air-traffic disruptions.<\/p>\n And the Cypriot president tried to minimise the economic damage being caused to his country by its proximity to the warzone.<\/p>\n \u201cCyprus remains a safe and stable operational hub for business, for tourism. We are in conditions of full normality in Cyprus,\u201d he said in the EU capital on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cCyprus is not, in any way, part of the conflict. We had a single, isolated incident with a drone at the British bases [at which Iran fired],\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Nato crisis<\/p>\n Christodoulides spoke amid an ever-wider rift between US president Donald Trump and other Nato allies.<\/p>\n