Germany: no plans to send extra forces to Middle East

Germany said on Thursday it had 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 on Thursday 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 defences in Cyprus.

Germany's navy participates in the long-running United Nations UNIFIL monitoring mission in Lebanon, but the defence ministry said the military's focus remained on NATO defence 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 said in a statement.

The statement said 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 Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who declared in parliament: "Germany is not a party in this war. The Bundeswehr is not taking part in this war."

(Reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Edmund Klamann)