The European Union has voiced its support for Nicosia following threats from Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who threatened Cyprus could “become part of the war” if it let Israel use its infrastructure for military purposes.

During a press briefing in Brussels, Peter Stano, the European Commission’s lead spokesperson for external affairs said “Cyprus is a member state of the European Union. This means the European Union is Cyprus and Cyprus is the European Union.”

He added that this means that “any threat against one of our member states is a threat against the European Union.”

Stano emphasized the EU’s solidarity with Cyprus, stating, “In this context, the EU fully supports Cyprus and the statement made by the Cypriot President regarding the threats from Hezbollah. We will continue to stand by Cyprus and show solidarity, which is why we support the statement issued by the Cypriot President.”

Nasrallah said in a televised address yesterday that Cyprus could become “part of the war” and a target if it continued offering its airports and bases to Israel for military purposes.

In response, Cyprus’s President Nikos Christodoulides reiterated that the country is not “in any way involved in a military conflict” and added that it should be seen “as part of the solution, not the problem” in regional tensions.

He was speaking about his government’s initiative of setting up a base in Cyprus to transfer international humanitarian aid to Gaza.