“We have always stressed it, and we stress it again: the EU must be proactive, far-sighted and have a long-term vision” in terms of defence, as well as a global, “360-degree” approach that includes all types of threats and all the EU’s geographical areas, Panayiotis Hadjipavlis, Defence Director of Cyprus’ Ministry of Defence, told a group of journalists on 1 April.
“In recent years, defence has become a priority for the EU. We insisted on a global approach within the European institutions (...) We were one of the few countries to favour this global approach, because we wanted to be proactive rather than reactive”, added the director, a few weeks ahead of an informal summit of the EU27 in Nicosia, which will also have defence and the situation in the Middle East on its agenda.
“We need to plan for the long term, rather than reacting piecemeal and always reacting to current events, taking into account the rapidly changing geopolitical situation”.
Adopting “a 360-degree approach means that we have to assess all the threats against our citizens and the EU Member States, either existing ones, new ones, emerging ones or latent ones. This unfortunately has not happened. We are still being monothematic in the European Union”, with most of those responsible concentrating essentially on Ukraine, added the director.
“Of course we support Ukraine. And this is one of the priorities of our Presidency”, but “what is happening now in the Middle East and Near East actually confirms” the position long defended by Cyprus, which consists of taking into account all the geographical areas of the EU under tension. A position also shared by Spain, Greece and Italy, Mr Hadjipavlis added.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a watershed event and a game-changer for world and European politics. However, a continuing Russian aggression is not an isolated phenomenon. The volatile Tinderbox Middle East region, the alarming instability in the Near East and the tense political situation in the Sahel are but a few examples in our close neighbourhood that need to be adequately addressed”, explained the director.
During the briefing, Panayiotis Hadjipavlis also explained the investment guidelines for the funds received under the SAFE programme.
The country received €1.18 billion. “We are currently in discussions with our partners, the other Member States, on joint programmes and individual programmes, which we must finalise by the end of May”, he added.
SAFE’s expenditure will mainly be on ammunition of various types, new or modernised armoured vehicles, and drones of various types (reconnaissance, surveillance), attack drones, kamikaze drones or anti-drone systems.
In general terms, the director added, Cyprus is committed “to using its presidency to strengthen collective security, enhance readiness, and foster concrete cooperation across the EU and with other strategic partners”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)