Cyprus “has a duty to help” in the evacuation of European Union and third countries’ citizens from crisis areas of the region should needs arise, Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas said on Sunday.

Speaking at a ceremony held to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Tillyria, he said that it is “normal” for people to be concerned about developments in the region, and that “Cyprus is a democratic country, a member state of the EU, and plays a leading role in the region due to its geopolitical and geographical location.”

“Therefore, we have a duty and an obligation to both EU and overseas nationals who are in the region to create that organisational framework and those mechanisms so that, if necessary, we can help those people go to their respective countries if and when there is any military operation in Lebanon,” he said.

He also said there “should be no concern” over whether Cyprus is going to be “part of the conflict”.

“Cyprus is on the side which is trying to find solutions to these issues related to military operations by any peaceful and political means,” he said, before reiterating the government’s call for the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and an immediate ceasefire in the region.

This, he said, would be “the first step towards defusing this dangerous situation”.

With this in mind, he also spoke of his “sadness” at “some publications and also some political parties” which criticised the government’s handling of the situation, particularly after the arrival of the United States’ amphibious assault ship the USS Wasp in Limassol on Wednesday.

“I must say that Cyprus is a country which, despite its small size, plays a leading role in the region, and we owe this leading role to prove it in practice, and at the same time we must demonstrate in practice the geostrategic and geopolitical position we have when needs arise and when we need to intervene to solve international problems,” he said.

He also insisted that the ship’s arrival is purely to aid with potential evacuations from Limassol should the situation in the country deteriorate.

“We emphasised that the presence of troops in the Republic of Cyprus, whether they are American, Canadian, German, or French, has to do with the efforts made by those countries, through Cyprus, which is a friendly country and ally, to facilitate and help their own citizens in a possible evacuation of Lebanon,” he said.

He added that for this reason, “there is no question of military operations in the sense that some let it be understood that these forces of these countries are here.”

Then asked about movements at the Andreas Papandreou air base in Paphos, he said, “we provide facilities to friendly countries and at the same time, last week, we carried out a bilateral air exercise with the US.”

 “There is nothing reprehensible, there is no fault, we are a recognised, democratic, modern state inside the international community, and we have every right, the inalienable right, to perform exercises for the purpose of being ready if and when issues arise,” he said.

He then clarified, “I am not talking about war operations, I am talking about peacekeeping operations, as well as other operations.”

Palmas’ statements echo those of US ambassador in Nicosia Julie Fisher, who had said on Saturday that the USS Wasp is in Cyprus “in support of long-planned US-Cyprus activities”.

“The visit comes at a time when the US continues all efforts along with key partners to de-escalate regional tensions and to be prepared to support civilians in crisis,” she added.

Opposition political party Akel were less than convinced, however, saying the arrival of the ship had made “our country part of the problem”, and that the government was consenting to the “continuing concentration of foreign military forces on our island.”

Meanwhile, a protest had taken place in Limassol against the ship’s arrival.