The war in Ukraine, the financing of military aid to Kyiv, the possible re-election of Trump in the US, and the ongoing international scene in general, which triggers clouds of insecurity and increased competition, have led the EU to take steps toward the difficult task of building a single common defense, which will also strengthen its strategic autonomy.
\nIn particular, in early March the Commission presented for the first time a European Defense Industrial Strategy, while last Thursday the leaders of the 27 Member States at the European Council Summit expressed their intention to further access public and private funding. The road, however, is expected to be fraught with difficulties, with the most sensitive issue being the future financing of more defense investment.
\nDr. Fotini Asderaki, Professor of European Integration Theory and European Education Policy at the Department of International and European Studies, University of Piraeus and elected President of the Doctoral School of the European College of Security and Defence stressed that Greece, with its strained defense budget, and Cyprus would benefit significantly from European funding to strengthen their defense.
\nAsked whether she believes that Cyprus and Greece could take some initiatives to highlight their role in the Common Defence, the Professor answered in the affirmative, specifying that any initiatives should be linked to the wider interests and threats to the EU and not limited to the issue of the danger with Turkey. It is worth mentioning here that a recent initiative by Cyprus, which gained support from major powers because it added value to other states and not only to the proposing country, is the \u2018Amalthea\u2019 project for the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
\nCyprus could, therefore, in the context of the common defense policy, further highlight its geostrategic role as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East and, above all, as an outpost of the West, i.e. as a guardian of the gates of Europe, located at the south-easternmost end of the Mediterranean.
\nAs a semi-involved country, facing the Turkish threat and a strong military inequality with Turkey, Cyprus cannot but advocate the strengthening of the EU\u2019s defense armor and its strategic autonomy.defense funding. war in Ukraine, financing of military aid, common defense, European Defense Industrial Strategy, public and private funding, defense investment, Greece, Cyprus, European funding, strengthen defense, Common Defence, threats to the EU, geostrategic role, bridge between Europe and the Middle East, outpost of the West, Turkish threat, military inequality, EU’s defense armor, strategic autonomy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
– The EU is taking steps toward building a single common defense to strengthen its strategic autonomy due to various global uncertainties.
\n– In early March, the European Commission presented a European Defense Industrial Strategy.
\n– At a European Council Summit, the leaders of the 27 Member States expressed their intention to access more public and private funding for defense.
\n– Financing future defense investment is a significant challenge.
\n– Dr. Fotini Asderaki highlighted that Greece and Cyprus would benefit from European funding for defense due to their strained defense budgets.
\n– Cyprus and Greece are encouraged to take initiatives that align with the wider interests and threats to the EU, beyond their issues with Turkey.
\n– Cyprus has initiated the \u2018Amalthea\u2019 project for transferring humanitarian aid to Gaza, which gained international support.
\n– Cyprus is positioned as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East and acts as a guardian of Europe’s southeastern border.
\n– Cyprus advocates for strengthening the EU\u2019s defense capabilities and strategic autonomy due to its military inequality with Turkey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[122,1177,603,3317,1766,1666,3314,3308,426,3,3311,405,1600,379,3305,3321,201,1841,2522,3309,3312,3307,304,145,3316,747,1235,399,959,187,2753,2796,296,148,69,1784,3320,3318,3310,2342,470,433,827,3322,3313,1358,1846,3315,114,841,177,3319,17,380,293,3306],"class_list":["post-5402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-aid","tag-amalthea","tag-autonomy","tag-bridge-between-europe-and-the-middle-east","tag-budget","tag-clouds","tag-common-defence","tag-common-defense","tag-competition","tag-cyprus","tag-defense-investment","tag-education","tag-election","tag-eu","tag-eu-defense-strategy","tag-eus-defense-armor","tag-europe","tag-european-commission","tag-european-council-summit","tag-european-defense-industrial-strategy","tag-european-funding","tag-financing-of-military-aid","tag-funding","tag-gaza","tag-geostrategic-role","tag-greece","tag-humanitarian","tag-humanitarian-aid","tag-inequality","tag-international","tag-investment","tag-issues","tag-kyiv","tag-local","tag-middle-east","tag-military-aid","tag-military-inequality","tag-outpost-of-the-west","tag-public-and-private-funding","tag-re-election","tag-road","tag-school","tag-security","tag-strategic-autonomy","tag-strengthen-defense","tag-support","tag-threat","tag-threats-to-the-eu","tag-top-news","tag-trump","tag-turkey","tag-turkish-threat","tag-ukraine","tag-us","tag-war","tag-war-in-ukraine"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n