Greece has roundly condemned a threat against Cyprus by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah last Wednesday during televised remarks in Lebanon.
Nasrallah warned his terrorist army would threaten Cyprus if the island nation cooperated with Israel in any way during the rapidly approaching conflict on the Lebanese Israeli border.
“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” Nasrallah said at the time.
Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis told reporters in Brussels that threats against Cyprus by Hezbollah were “absolutely unacceptable” upon his arrival Monday for a meeting of the European Union foreign ministers.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to make threats against the sovereign state of the European Union,” Gerapetritis said. “We stand by Cyprus, and we will all be together in all kinds of global threats coming from terrorist organizations.”
The European Union itself also issued a statement warning that any threat to Cyprus is a threat to the other 26 member states of the bloc.
Peter Stano, spokesperson for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy, said Stano the EU fully supports Cyprus and is in contact with “numerous partners in the region,” including Lebanon and Hezbollah, to de-escalate tensions.
Both Greece and Cyprus are members of the European Union and as such, other member states could be required to come to their defense if attacked by Hezbollah.
At the time, Cyprus dismissed the threat, citing its country’s diplomatic neutrality as “part of the solution,” rather than “part of the problem.”
A strong trilateral alliance exists between Israel, Cyprus and Greece, whose military forces have long held exercises together in the region.
