Netherlands stands with Cyprus, PM says after frigate deployment

The Netherlands “stands with Cyprus”, the country’s Prime Minister Rob Jetten said late on Tuesday night, following the announcement of his country’s intention to deploy a frigate to Cypriot waters after the island was hit by an Iranian-made drone last week.

“Your security is our security,” he wrote in a post on social media, in reply to a post written by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides thanking the Netherlands for its “concrete support to Cyprus”.

The Dutch frigate forms part of the carrier strike group of the French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle, which was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean by French President Emmanuel Macron in the aftermath of last week’s drone strike.

Of the frigate’s deployment, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant wrote that the country’s government stressed that the sending of the frigate will constitute “a limited deployment of a defensive nature, both geographically and in terms of time”, with the ship set to remain in Cypriot waters until the beginning of next month.

Macron had visited the Charles de Gaulle on Monday after having paid a joint visit to Cyprus alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with Macron saying during that visit 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”. 

Following the deployment of Greek F-16s, Turkey then deployed six F-16s of its own, which arrived on the island on Monday morning. 

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, which operates and holds sovereignty over the Akrotiri air force base, which was hit by last week’s drone, has sent multiple AW159 Wildcat helicopters, armed with anti-drone missiles, to Cyprus, while the HMS Dragon Type 45 destroyer warship departed from Portsmouth on Tuesday evening.

Additionally, last week British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed that Cyprus, and more specifically Akrotiri, has been used as the launchpad for missions aimed at engaging and shooting down drones fired from Iran.

Those operations are being led by F-35 fighter jets, which have been stationed in Cyprus since last month.