Cypriot member of the European Parliament Costas Mavrides, of Diko, late on Tuesday night called for the permanent stationing of European Union military force in Cyprus.

“The last few years, we have seen the war in Ukraine, and now the war in Iran. We need to go beyond national armies. We need [an] EU defence mechanism to protect Europe; a regional EU defence. A permanent representation of EU forces in Cyprus is the first concrete step,” he told the night’s plenary session in Strasbourg.

On this front, he invoked Robert Schuman, one of the EU’s founding fathers, referencing the Schuman declaration of 1950.

“Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity,” he said.

To this end, he said that the EU’s bolstering of its own defence industry is “the most important project for deepening the EU over the last few decades”, in light of the two wars which are now ongoing at Europe’s periphery.

He then issued a warning regarding the repositioning of six Turkish F-16 fighter jets to Cyprus, saying that “if we keep silent once again … I am going to say it very bluntly, we are feeding the master”.

After the fall of the current Iranian government, he said, “the new ruler, anti-European, the new ruler will be Erdogan’s Turkey”.

The deployment of those Turkish fighter jets came with Greece and Turkey seeming now to be heading towards alignment regarding Cyprus’ role in the conflict.

Following the arrival of the Greek F-16s last week, Turkey lodged no protest, and the country’s defence ministry’s spokesman rear admiral Zeki Akturk instead announced that a delegation from the Greek air force will visit Turkey this week “within the framework of bilateral relations and regional developments”.

He then described the Greek delegation’s planned visit of as a “confidence-building measure”.

Mavrides’ call for a permanent stationing of EU military force in Cyprus comes following the deployment of naval assets to the island’s vicinity multiple EU member states after the island was hit by an Iranian-made drone last week.

The Netherlands is the latest country to do so, with a Dutch frigate set to deploy to Cyprus as part of the french aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle’s carrier strike group. The Charles de Gaulle itself arrived in the eastern Mediterranean earlier this week.

Macron said during his visit to Cyprus that the Charles de Gaulle is “now close to Cyprus to contribute to the overall defence picture, and to ensure it in the long term”. 

Earlier, Italy had announced its intention to send the Federico Martinego frigate to Cyprus, while Spain is to send the Cristobal Colon frigate. 

Greece, meanwhile, deployed four F-16 fighter jets to the island last Monday, as well as two frigates, including the Kimon, which was described by Mitsotakis during his visit to the island as the “pride of the Greek fleet”.