European Union leaders meeting in Cyprus this week will develop an "operational plan" to clarify how the bloc's 27 member states should respond when a nation calls for help under Article 42.7 of EU treaties, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said Tuesday.

Article 42.7 obligates all EU members to provide "aid and assistance by all the means in their power" if a nation becomes "the victim of armed aggression on its territory." The provision has been invoked only once, by France following the 2015 Paris terror attacks that killed more than 130 people.

The initiative gained urgency after a drone attack in March struck a British air base on Cyprus' southern coastline. Cypriot officials said the drone was launched from Lebanon, prompting Greece, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal to dispatch ships with anti-drone capabilities to help defend the island.

EU officials plan to conduct "table-top exercises" in mid-May to test political decision-making processes under Article 42.7, followed by similar tests with defense ministers weeks later. The exercises will focus on how the EU's diverse tools - including military assets, sanctions, border controls and trade policies - could be deployed during crises.

One key issue to be addressed is how EU countries that are also NATO members would balance obligations under both Article 42.7 and NATO's Article 5 security guarantee. Officials also need to determine whether responses would be collective or limited to neighboring states, and what types of assistance would be appropriate for different crisis scenarios.

The discussions come as EU leaders seek to strengthen the bloc's strategic autonomy amid ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Cyprus currently holds the EU's rotating presidency and is hosting an EU-Middle East summit later this week with leaders from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.