“I am very proud of our country,’ President, Nikos Christodoulides, said on Friday, after the European Council in Brussels, the last under the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU, noting that this term has been ‘an extraordinary honour.’
He noted that the Presidency was ‘a duty’ carried out with true dedication, intense work, steady progress, and tangible deliverables.
At a joint press conference with the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, President Christodoulides said that this was the last European Council during the Cyprus Presidency.
‘And in this regard, for Cyprus, this Summit marks the culmination of six months at the helm of the Council, a journey that we embarked on with great pride and a profound sense of responsibility. And a duty we conducted with true dedication, intense work, steady progress, and tangible deliverables’ he added, noting that it was a results-driven Presidency, from beginning to end.
‘From the outset we have approached our Presidency with the conviction that there are no limits to what we deliver for our Union’ he said, adding that Cyprus assumed the Presidency ‘with a clear vision – to give substance to European strategic autonomy, to European Independence’, as the next necessary step of European integration.
He noted that the Cyprus Presidency’s motto for a more Autonomous Union, Open to the World, ‘has proven not only timely, but increasingly necessary in today’s geopolitical environment.’
With 11 days to go, he said, ‘we have a clear picture of the results of the Cyprus Presidency, across the European agenda: from defence and security, to competitiveness, enlargement, social cohesion, and certainly, the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)’.
On the MFF, he noted that Nicosia achieved its goal of presenting a mature negotiating box with figures and securing partial general approaches on the key financial instruments and on other sectoral proposals. ‘This has been a decisive step to take us to the next stage of negotiations and provides a very solid basis for reaching an agreement by the end of the year’, he added.
On Ukraine, he said that for Cyprus, as the Union’s last member state under occupation, ‘it is absolutely clear what is at stake in Ukraine’, and how indispensable it is to uphold international legality and respect of the United Nations (UN) Charter, which, he said, are non-negotiable. ‘During our Presidency, we maintained our unwavering support through agreement on a substantial financial assistance package of pound 90 billion, while also adopting the 20th package of restrictive measures against Russia’, he added.
On security and defence, he said the Cyprus Presidency delivered ‘concrete progress’, including through the implementation of SAFE with financial assistance decisions for 18 member states, the conclusion of the defence readiness omnibus, and the advancement of the Military Mobility agenda, while that two days ago an agreement was reached on the Council’s Mandate on the Military Mobility Package. ‘And we initiated discussions, during our Presidency, which are now progressing on multiple levels, on giving substance, giving flesh and bone to the mutual assistance clause of Article 42.7, for more European independence’, he added.
On migration, he said, the Cyprus Presidency delivered agreement on the Returns Regulation and oversaw the entry into application of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, ‘marking an important milestone towards a more effective, balanced and sustainable migration framework.’
He also said that enlargement was a strategic priority of the Cyprus Presidency, noting that accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova, Albania and Montenegro advanced actively these six months.
On the Middle East, ‘a vital region and neighbourhood of the EU’, he said that Cyprus has worked to keep engagement and cooperation with the countries of the region high on the European agenda. He referred to the informal gathering in Lefkosia, in April, and the discussion of EU leaders with regional leaders ‘on developments in our wider neighbourhood, and on how we seize this momentum for deeper cooperation’.
President Christodoulides referred to several other successes of the Cyprus EU Presidency, such as ‘important outcomes’ enhancing trade partnerships with Mercosur, Mexico Switzerland, and the US.
During the Presidency, he said, the EU-UK relations were strengthened, by advancing negotiations on UK participation in the EU electricity market, Cohesion Policy, Erasmus+, and Gibraltar, resolving the last outstanding Brexit issue. He also said that Europe’s competitiveness was promoted through the ‘One Europe, One Market’ agenda and delivered key simplification measures, including the AI regulation under the Digital Omnibus, as well as packages on Defence Readiness, SMEs, Chemicals, and Food and Feed Safety. He also noted that the ‘landmark reform’ of the Union Customs Code, was completed, a Council agreement on the European Business Wallet and CBAM was secured, and the e-Declaration negotiations advanced, while significant progress towards a more integrated Energy Union was made.
He also referred to ‘a decisive breakthrough on the long-awaited revision of the Air Passenger Rights Regulation, which was on the table for 13 years, delivering stronger rights for European citizens’, among other things.
Six months ago, he said, Cyprus took over the Presidency with one central aim, to deliver. ‘And today, I can proudly say, that results speak for themselves. From security and defence, to competitiveness, enlargement, energy, migration and social cohesion – the Cyprus Presidency has delivered for our European family and our citizens’, he added.
Serving at the helm of the Council, he said, ‘has been an extraordinary honour, and one that we made a national mission. The responsibility to be the voice of the 27 member states serves as a powerful reminder that Europe advances when member states drive forward common European interest of our 450 million citizens.’
In closing, he thanked his colleagues in the European Council, Costa, von der Leyen, and the entire Commission, the President of the European Parliament for their contribution, as well as Cyprus’ Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, ‘under whose oversight this collective national effort was carried out, and who worked in an exemplary manner to carry our Presidency forward very successfully.’
Responding to a question on his overall assessment of the results achieved by the Cyprus EU Presidency, particularly in light of the progress recorded on major dossiers such as enlargement and the MFF, and whether he believes that, given the progress made, the EU is now closer to reaching an agreement before the end of the year, President Christodoulides said: ‘I am extremely proud of our country.’
‘I am very proud of the results delivered by the Cyprus Presidency across many areas’, he said.
Referring to enlargement, he said, as regards Montenegro, the Cyprus Presidency achieved three Intergovernmental Conferences, the provisional closure of four negotiating chapters and, the establishment of the ad hoc working group on the Accession Treaty, noting that this was the first such group to be established in the EU in 16 years.
‘In essence, through our work, we provided renewed momentum to the accession path of the Western Balkans and highlighted the importance of enlargement as a geopolitical tool,’ he added.
He also referred to the opening of the first negotiation cluster with Ukraine and Moldova, ‘following two years of deadlock.’
President Christodoulides further highlighted Albania and the Intergovernmental Conference held in May, which ‘confirmed the fulfilment of the interim benchmarks of the first cluster’. ‘I am confident that the incoming Presidency will build on this new momentum that the Cyprus Presidency, always in close cooperation with the Commission, has generated on enlargement,’ he said.
On the MFF, he stressed that the EU budget must reflect ‘our current priorities’, taking into account both the challenges facing the Union and key MFF programmes that resonate with European citizens, such as the Cohesion Fund and the Common Agricultural Policy.
He explained that Nicosia had presented a revised negotiating framework, including concrete figures, and noted that today’s discussion at the European Council had been ‘highly constructive’, alongside the agreement of three partial general approaches within the Council on the main financial instruments, despite differing positions among Member States.
He added that, in his intervention at the Council, he told his colleagues that he considered it a success that none of them was 100% satisfied with the figures proposed by the Cypriot Presidency. ‘Precisely because it must be a balanced compromise,’ he said, stressing ‘the particular political importance of reaching an agreement by the end of 2026’.