Israel’s Saar tells Cyprus’ Kombos the Turkish–Libyan memorandum harms regional states, as Christodoulides asks the EU to revive its mutual defence clause

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar spoke by phone on Thursday, October 22, with his Cypriot counterpart Konstantinos Kombos about the illegal Turkish–Libyan memorandum. “We discussed the Turkey–Libya agreement on the delimitation of maritime borders, which harms the interests and rights of several countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region,” Saar wrote on X, calling Kombos a “friend”.

The two ministers also discussed bilateral relations between Israel and Cyprus and Israel’s relations with the European Union. “I will continue to strengthen relations between Israel and Cyprus,” Saar added. Israel took a position against the memorandum as soon as the Libyan parliament ratified it, and Ankara replied to Israel that it was “disinformation”.

Christodoulides’ letter on Article 42.7

The same day it emerged that Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides asked Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to put discussions on the EU mutual defence clause back on the agenda. The letter, dated October 20, was revealed by Politico. “I cannot overstate the importance of this provision for the EU and its member states, especially in times of geopolitical uncertainty,” Christodoulides writes.

Article 42.7 of the Lisbon Treaty provides that if a member state suffers armed aggression, the others have an obligation to provide “aid and assistance by all the means in their power”. “Given the seriousness of the challenges we face, Cyprus would welcome the resumption of discussions in the competent preparatory bodies,” the Cypriot president writes, asking for a briefing on the proposals under consideration and a timetable for next steps.

Cyprus’ presidency of the EU Council, which ended on June 30, had made the issue a high priority after Iranian drones hit a British base on Cypriot soil in March. The EU also held exercises this year on how the clause would work in practice. An EU official confirmed that Article 42.7 is not on the agenda of any summit in the foreseeable future.

On the memorandum, Nicosia has the support of High Representative Kaja Kallas, who told Hakan Fidan that it violates the sovereign rights of third states. The memorandum is an agreement between Ankara and a Libyan faction that is null and void under international law, and which the EU 27 have rejected.