French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Cyprus on Tuesday and announced the formation of a force to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Mediterranean. Iran was quick to respond to Macron's remarks, saying it was "unreasonable that any security arrangement would be reached in the middle of a war."
European governments are deeply alarmed by the war in the Middle East and its repercussions for the continent, which is heavily dependent on natural gas produced in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In recent days, the main preoccupation across European nations has been the evacuation of EU and other European citizens stranded across the Middle East, as well as soaring energy prices affecting ordinary Europeans.
Upon his arrival in Cyprus, Macron – who decided to send military forces to help intercept threats against Cyprus – noted that "when Cyprus is attacked, Europe is attacked." Speaking alongside Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron said, "The security of all European citizens is a shared interest. We immediately took solidarity measures toward Cyprus, which was attacked by a large number of drones and missiles. We deployed the frigate Languedoc and a Mistral unit to the area. An important element reinforcing overall defense is the presence of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its battle group near Cyprus."
France is currently leading a coalition aimed at protecting international shipping lanes, with particular emphasis on the Strait of Hormuz. Britain and Spain have also sent defensive forces to help intercept threats against Cyprus, which is both an EU member state and a NATO member. Current European policy supports the defense of countries in Europe, the Middle East, and the Gulf, but European nations are not participating in attacks on Iran, and some have refused to allow American forces to use their military facilities to strike Iran. Spain stands apart in barring any US military presence connected to the war against Iran altogether.
European policy has drawn heavy criticism amid a broader debate over Europe's lack of involvement and relevance in major global processes unfolding in recent years – including the current war between Israel and the United States against Iran, a conflict in which numerous other countries have also been targeted.
"Europe can no longer be the guardian of the old world order – a world that has vanished and will not return," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Tuesday in Brussels before EU ambassadors, renewing her call for member states to increase defense spending. "We will always defend and support the rules-based system that we helped build with our allies, but we can no longer rely on it as the sole way to protect our interests or assume that its rules will shield us from the complex threats we face. We must therefore build our own European path and find new ways to cooperate with partners. We need a sharp and serious look at our foreign policy in today's world – both in how it is shaped and how it is implemented. We must urgently ask whether our doctrine, our institutions, and our decision-making – all designed in a post-war world of stability and multilateralism – have kept pace with the changes around us. Whether the system we built – with all its well-intentioned efforts toward consensus and compromise – is more of an asset or an obstacle to our credibility as a geopolitical actor."
Von der Leyen also expressed a pointed view on the war against Iran, saying, "No tears should be shed for the Iranian regime that caused death and imposed repression on its people. They slaughtered 17,000 of their own young people. And this regime caused destruction and instability across the region through its proxies armed with missiles and drones. Many Iranians, inside the country and across Europe and the world, celebrated the death of Ayatollah Khamenei. As did many others throughout the region. They hope this moment can open a path toward a free Iran. The Iranian people deserve freedom, dignity, and the right to determine their own future – even as we know this will come with danger and instability during and after the war."
