Cyprus will be undertaking the informal meeting of EU Ministers of Defence, to be held during the current Danish presidency of the EU, President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias said on Wednesday.

The President’s remarks came in response to criticism of his stance on the informal meeting taking place in Cyprus, which suggested that he was not willing to host such a meeting. “Things will be proceeding as normal,” the President said.

The President said that Denmark does not participate in the EU Common Defence and Security informal meetings and thus the country which follows the Danish EU presidency usually takes over, in this case Cyprus. He said the informal meeting would be held during the first half of 2012 and that “our obligation is to hold an official meeting during our presidency (in the second half of the year) and we will do so.“

“The Republic of Cyprus will fully meet its obligations as a small state, full member of the EU,“ he added, noting that many informal or official meetings take place in Brussels and the schedule would be