Developments in the region and geopolitical changes, energy issues, as well as the defence and security of the European Union were some of the topics discussed on Friday within the framework of the Cyprus Forum 2025.
The UK sees Cyprus as a really important regional partner, British High Commissioner, Michael Tatham said, in a discussion at the Cyprus Forum on diplomacy, trade and security in the EuroMed region.
‘We very much welcome the fact that Cyprus is well-plugged into the region, has good relationships with Israel and its Arab neighbours, and we find it a really important partner for our diplomacy’, he said.
He also said that the Eastern Mediterranean is an important, strategic region, politically, economically, in terms of energy and transport routes which has been marked by very significant instability and turbulence over recent years.
‘So, when you’re talking about the shift that we would like to see, we would like to see in the UK, it’s a shift from instability to stability, a shift that allows us to do more to explore the opportunities in the region rather than constantly be tackling the problems and the challenges,” he noted.
Tatham said that in practice this means two priorities. One is Gaza. He noted that for the UK is very clear that the immediate steps that are needed there are a ceasefire, the immediate release of hostages and the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
‘We welcome the recent US plan, which we hope can offer a pathway towards those goals. In the longer term, we think that enduring stability requires there to be a political pathway to a two-state solution’, he added. He also expressed hope that all state actors would support it.
Syria, he said, was the other area. ‘I think we now have a chance to embed stability in Syria. So, we are very supportive of that goal and supportive of an inclusive political transition in Syria’, he said.
“Defence is for deterrence, not war”
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Defence is for deterrence, not war, Director of Defence of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus, Panayiotis Hadjipavlis, noted in the discussion on the militarisation of Europe. The Ambassador of Poland to Cyprus, Marek Szczepanowski, noted that his country would support Cyprus in continuing the work of the presidency trio programme, that begun with Poland’s presidency, currently held by Denmark. Cyprus is to assume the EU Presidency in January 2026.
Asked by the moderator of the discussion whether Poland’s EU presidency contributed to more militarisation or more security, the Ambassador noted that his country’s EU presidency term was ‘strictly oriented on security’, and that the presidency was now taken over by Denmark, with which ‘we have the same, or very similar, priorities of our trio together with Cyprus’. ‘So, we will also support Cyprus in the continuation of all of this work, which we have continued before, but also some projects and initiatives which we have initiated’, he added.
He noted that Poland assumed its EU Presidency ‘in a very turbulent period’, referring to Ukraine, the Middle East, the instrumentalisation of migration, hybrid wars, disinformation, adding that there were many security aspects the EU had to face and find solutions. He said that they decided to focus on security and diversify different dimensions of security, and that they had to identify each problem – external, internal, economic, information, food, and health security.
For decades, he said, the EU was living ‘in a comfort zone’ and was losing its ‘awareness of the necessity that we have to be prepared for any difficult situation’. ‘Now, after the aggression of Russia against Ukraine, we realised that this situation changed dramatically’, he added.
The Ambassador said that very important initiatives and projects were launched during the Polish EU presidency, such as the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) regulation.
He also referred to the ‘omnibus packages’ which facilitate and allows participation in the international market of the European companies in a much more comfortable and much more flexible way as it was before.
The Polish Presidency also prepared and implemented the ‘Democracy Shield’ document, he said, on the implementation of legal measures to protect the democracy mechanism in a democratic society.
Hadjipavlis said that Nicosia would continue what has been done by the previous two presidencies. ‘Defence is number one priority’, he said, noting that Cyprus has some other issues it wants to stress from its point of view. ‘We don’t want to be monothematic’, he said, adding that there is not only one threat in the EU.
‘Of course there is the Russian threat, however, the threats are everywhere, hybrid, asymmetric threats, instability in the Middle East, we have to be insightful, reexamine our assessment as regards horizon scanning and security threats and design our security based on these threats’, he pointed out.
This is what Cyprus will bring to the table – the power dynamics in the area, and Cyprus’ experience in crisis management and as a semi-occupied country, he added.
Hadjipavlis also said that he did not agree there was militarisation in Europe, arguing that what is currently happening was ‘ramping up of armament acquisition’. ‘Europe was far behind’, he said, noting the bloc has awaken from a very long slumber after thinking that ‘peace was eternal’. Europe, he added, woke up after the Crimea crisis and the invasion of Ukraine, noting that some forget there was a war in the heart of Europe, in former Yugoslavia, while that one should ‘always have in mind’ Cyprus’ occupation by Turkey. ‘These are things we need to keep in mind’, he said.
‘Defence is part of security’, he said, noting that without it, societies cannot function, while defence was necessary for nation to defend their values and their existence.
“Cyprus could be one of IMEC nodes”
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India’s Ambassador to Cyprus, Shri Manish, referred, among other things, to Cyprus’ interest in the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), noting that it can be one of the nodes.
Speaking at a session on the eastern Mediterranean strategic significance to European and global processes, the Ambassador referred to the IMEC. He said it is an alternative to the traditional corridor, noting it is multi-modal in the sense of sea route, land route, and rail route and that there are two different segments: the southern corridor, which connects India to Israel (India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel) and the northern corridor that starts from Israel up to France via Italy, and then also connects to Germany.
According to the Ambassador, the corridor will reduce logistics costs by 30% and transportation time by 40%, while that for India, was one of the biggest game-changers that may happen in the 21st century.
He also referred to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘historic’ visit, as he said, to Cyprus last June. He said that Cyprus has also expressed interest to be part of the overall process, noting that ‘directly, it doesn’t fall in the corridor’. ‘But it can be one of the nodes’, he added, noting that there is a formulation in the joint declaration which both governments issued.
He also said that the eastern corridor connecting India to the Gulf has advanced rapidly, while the northern corridor through Middle East to Europe has experienced delay for the well-known reasons and that now, it was ‘up to the Northern Corridor partners’, including the EU, Italy, France, and Israel to start the process on the northern leg of the corridor.
Cyprus News Agency is a media sponsor of the Cyprus Forum.