00:00What's happening in these waters around Cyprus is something new for Europe.
00:03And some are asking if it could be a crash test for collective defence without the US.
00:07A British base on the island was hit by an Iranian-made drone in early March,
00:10prompting several European states to send warships and other military assets to help.
00:14This is the first time that the European Union looks like an actual alliance.
00:20There has been some kind of communication and conduct
00:24regarding what kind of defence systems should every country dispatch.
00:31The country is the EU state most exposed to the war in the Middle East.
00:34I mean, just look at where Cyprus is on a map.
00:37Around a four-hour flight from the EU capital, Brussels, but just 45 minutes to Beirut.
00:42Cyprus isn't a member of NATO, so it relies mainly on this clause in the European Union's treaties.
00:47It didn't actually invoke that defence pledge, but welcomed offers of voluntary support.
00:52Still, the situation is complicating decades-old tensions across Cyprus itself.
00:57After EU states sent arms, Turkey followed up by sending fighter jets
01:01to the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not internationally recognised.
01:06All these elements mean Cyprus is a pretty specific case for European collective defence.
01:10This incident has served as an opportunity for the expression of EU solidarity
01:16at very low cost and very low risk.
01:19It is not expected that either Iran or Hezbollah will focus on Cyprus.
01:26We'd see reactions based on very different calculations
01:28if another EU state were hit in different circumstances,
01:31say, a Baltic state targeted by Russia.
01:33Europe has been ramping up arms production,
01:35but it still relies on the US for some key weapons and military intelligence.
01:38So while we may be witnessing a new phase in the idea
01:41and even the implementation of European defence,
01:44independence is still a long way off.
01:49that is what it means.
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