Netherlands confirms intention to send frigate to Cyprus

The government of the Netherlands on Monday confirmed its intention to send a frigate to Cyprus, joining a growing list of countries which have deployed naval assets to the island’s vicinity in the aftermath of an Iranian-made drone hitting the island last week.

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.

The frigate is part of the carrier strike group of the French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle, which is currently located off the Greek island of Crete, en route towards Cyprus.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Charles de Gaulle on Monday after having paid a joint visit to Cyprus alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. 

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”. 

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 also expected to depart from Portsmouth within the coming days. 

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.