The Cypriot presidency has postponed Monday’s meeting of Europe ministers in Nicosia after a British base was hit by a drone overnight, after insisting late on Sunday that the talks would go ahead.
The informal gathering was set to cover enlargement and the next EU budget.
“Given this unanticipated development which has unfortunately impacted today’s flights to Cyprus, the Cyprus Presidency has decided to postpone the informal GAC to a later date,” a presidency spokesperson said on Monday morning.
The Cypriot government confirmed on Monday that an Iranian-made Shahed drone hit a British base in Cyprus, causing minor material damage. However, a spokesperson stressed that the country was not the intended target.
Cyprus’s President Nikos Christodoulides had earlier said that the island country would not participate in any military operation.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had spoken with Christodoulides about Sunday’s incident that targeted the British base in Akrotiri. “Let me be clear: we stand collectively, firmly and unequivocally with our Member States in the face of any threat,” she wrote on social media.
Another meeting of EU ministers is set for Thursday in Cyprus, but for now only the General Affairs Council has been postponed. The session is expected to bring together ministers from across the bloc to discuss cultural rights and the illicit trafficking of cultural goods.
