Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis flew by helicopter to the Greek frigate Kimon on Monday afternoon in a symbolic visit, as European leaders rallied around the island following a drone strike on the RAF Akrotiri British military base.
The two leaders had earlier joined French President Emmanuel Macron for a trilateral meeting at Andreas Papandreou Air Base in Paphos — one of several high-level gestures of support for Cyprus since a Shahed-type drone struck RAF Akrotiri on 2 March, raising fears the island could be drawn into the US-led war against Iran.
Greece was among the first countries to respond to the strike, deploying the frigates Kimon and Psara to patrol Cyprus’s southern coast alongside four F-16 fighter jets. The Kimon, a French-built Belharra-class frigate, is currently operating off Limassol.
Macron and Mitsotakis arrived in Cyprus to demonstrate solidarity and coordinate on maritime security, the safety of European citizens in the region, and efforts to de-escalate the crisis. France has also deployed the frigate Languedoc to Cypriot waters, with the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle en route to the eastern Mediterranean.
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