Germany says it has no plans to send extra forces to Middle East

Germany says it has no plans to send additional military support to the Middle East, after European allies announced plans to move forces to the eastern Mediterranean following a drone strike at a British air base in Cyprus.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament earlier today that Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands would send naval assets to protect Cyprus in the coming days.

Britain is also deploying a destroyer and additional helicopters with anti-drone capabilities to the region and is joining France and Greece in boosting air defenses in Cyprus.

Germany’s navy participates in the long-running United Nations UNIFIL monitoring mission in Lebanon, but the defense ministry says the military’s focus remained on NATO defense operations in eastern Europe.

“Germany is currently not planning any additional military capabilities beyond its existing contributions to international missions in the Middle East,” the ministry says in a statement.

The statement says the anti-aircraft frigate “Sachsen” was currently taking part in NATO’s Cold Response exercise in the Arctic.

The statement from the ministry reiterated comments from Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who declares in parliament: “Germany is not a party in this war. The Bundeswehr is not taking part in this war.”