The meeting of European Union ministers, which was supposed to be held today in Cyprus, was postponed due to a drone attack that hit the British airbase on that island during the night, announced the spokesman of the Cypriot Government, Konstantinos Letimbiotis.
“Given this unforeseen development, which unfortunately also affected today’s flights to Cyprus, the Cypriot EU presidency decided to postpone the informal meeting of the EU General Affairs Council to a later date,” said Letimbiotis.
In January, Cyprus assumed the six-month presidency of the European Council.
In a televised address, the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, confirmed that an unmanned aerial vehicle was intercepted in Cyprus and stated that it was an Iranian drone.
This is also the first attack on a British military facility since the rocket attack by Libyan militants in 1986, and the incident represents a significant escalation of the conflict.
President Nikos Christodoulides stated in a televised speech that the Shahed drone caused minor damage when it crashed into military facilities at 00:03 and that all competent services of the republic are on alert and fully operational.
“I want to be clear. Our country in no way participates and does not intend to be part of any military operation,” Christodoulides said.
It was not immediately clear where the Iranian-made Shahed was fired from. Two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that British bases had intercepted the second drone.
Although the bases are considered British sovereign territory, Cyprus itself is a member of the EU and now presides over the bloc on a rotating basis.
Akrotiri, southwest of the sprawling coastal city of Limassol, is one of two bases Britain has maintained in the former colony since independence in 1960. In addition to military facilities, it also houses the families of soldiers who are on duty.
Base authorities advised residents near Akrotiri to take shelter until further notice following the drone strike, later adding that non-essential personnel would be deployed, while other British facilities would operate as normal.
Akrotiri, located on a square-shaped peninsula at the southern tip of Cyprus, has in the past been used for military operations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
