How the Iran war has put the small island of Cyprus abruptly on Europe's security radar
CBSN
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus on Monday to discuss regional security after a British military base there was targeted in an Iranian drone attack. In:
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus on Monday to discuss regional security after a British military base there was targeted in an Iranian drone attack.
France quickly joined other European nations to stress that an attack on Cyprus was an attack on all of Europe. Paris joined several other European capitals to announce that additional warships would be deployed to the Mediterranean, along with anti-drone and anti-missile defenses, to help defend Cyprus.
Cyprus is a small island, roughly the size of Yellowstone Park in the U.S. and with a population of less than 1.5 million. But its location in the far eastern Mediterranean, only about 100 miles from the shores of Lebanon and Syria in the heart of the Middle East, makes it strategically invaluable soil — and explains why the British have maintained two sovereign military bases there, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, for decades.
Cyprus has seen itself thrust to the forefront of international security concerns since the U.S. and Israel launched their strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Most of Iran's retaliatory ballistic missile and drone launches have targeted Israel and its Persian Gulf neighbors, but a few drones did take aim at the U.K.'s air base in Akrotiri, and one lightly damaged a runway.
The small island is not new to military tension, however.
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