President Macron will visit Cyprus to show solidarity and discuss security, as France deploys warships following a drone attack on the island.
PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron will visit Cyprus on Monday to demonstrate solidarity and detail moves to strengthen security in the eastern Mediterranean, his office announced on Sunday.
The visit comes as France deploys warships to the region following a drone attack on Cyprus days ago, which involved Iranian-made drones.
Macron will meet Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paphos during the trip.
The French president ordered the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean and sent a frigate and air defence units to Cyprus after the attack.
His office stated the trip is intended to demonstrate France’s solidarity with Cyprus, a European Union member state with which it has a strategic partnership.
The visit will also allow Macron to emphasise the importance of guaranteeing freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
This focus is particularly relevant through the European Union’s Aspides maritime operation, according to the Elysee Palace.
There have been numerous attacks on ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint in the Gulf, since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28.
Nearly 20% of the world’s crude oil and about 20% of liquefied natural gas usually transit through this key shipping lane.
The Cyprus meeting is also set to focus on the safety of European nationals in the region and support repatriation operations.
Nearly 400,000 French nationals are either living in or visiting countries affected by the conflict, which has spread across the Gulf region as well as to Lebanon and Iraq.
At least 4,300 people have been able to return to France since the start of hostilities, according to France’s foreign ministry.
Britain and Italy have also dispatched a warship each to Cyprus to boost the island’s defences.