The foreign ministers of Cyprus and Germany on Monday jointly called for a de-escalation of the crisis in the region during a meeting they had at the old Larnaca airport.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul paid a flying visit to the island for a sit-down with his Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos while on a tour of countries in the region. He has already been to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Oman. Cyprus was the last stop.

In joint statements after a meeting they called for an immediate de-escalation and referred to the active role that the European Union must play in bringing this about.

“We share several assessments of the situation… the European voice must be heard,” said Wadephul. He described Cyprus’ initiative to convene the Foreign Affairs Council on Tuesday as “very important and necessary” adding: “Everyone knows that if you stand on the shores of Cyprus, you see what is happening on the other side of the sea.”

Wadephul said it was in everyone’s interest to calm the situation between Israel and Iran, which must be done at the negotiating table.

“We call on both sides to end military actions as soon as possible,” he said.

Kombos in his statements said their discussion was constructive.

“On many things we are completely aligned, on many others we are in very close positions, we definitely agree on the basic principle of the need for immediate de-escalation of the situation, because it is extremely dangerous and as long as this continues, the degree of danger is increasing,” said Kombos.

The fact that Wadephul was in the region essentially representing the EU was significant, Kombos added. And the fact that he had included Cyprus in the context of this visit was further proof of how Cyprus was seen as a bridge in the region.

Issues related to crisis management were also discussed, including the possible evacuation of citizens of European countries from the region. He referred to the Estia national plan to help evacuees get repatriated saying that around 2,600 people have already been facilitated and mentioned that Portugal and Slovakia have asked Cyprus to host their nationals leaving Israel.

“As long as the situation remains this serious, the demands on us to function as a safe harbour as we have done several times in the recent past increase.”

Regarding the repatriation of Cypriot citizens who are in Israel and Iran, the minister said that “the effort to support them and, if possible, evacuate them is progressing”.

“It is extremely difficult under the current circumstances, since there are no flights, but we hope that by the end of the day tomorrow, more than half of 55 Cypriots who are in Israel and have expressed a desire to leave, will find a way to leave and arrive in Cyprus via a third country,” he said.