On Thursday 23 April, the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, said that it was necessary to “give substance” to Article 42.7 of the EU Treaty, which provides for mutual assistance between Member States in the event of armed aggression against one of them (see EUROPE 13855/4, 13831/22).
In March, without having triggered this article, “we had an immediate response from five Member States: Greece, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Italy”, said Mr Christodoulides, referring to an incident involving the flight of drones over Cypriot territory that disrupted the island’s airspace. What we need, he added, is to “say what is going to happen if a Member State triggers the article” through “an operational plan” that would define the measures to be taken.
The Cypriot president noted that Article 42.7 had only been mentioned once, by France, after the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015 and Nice in July 2016 (see EUROPE 11596/17).
The European Christian Democrat (EPP) family is preparing a specific document for the June European Council meeting.
Mr Christodoulides also felt that the EU had only one path to take, the one that would enable it “achieve the strategic autonomy, either on issues of competitiveness, on energy, on defence and security”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)