Council of EU presidency ‘a golden national opportunity’, Christodoulides says

Cyprus’ forthcoming six-month term as the holder of the Council of the European Union’s rotating presidency is “a golden national opportunity for our country”, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday night.

Addressing the Cypriot permanent representative to the EU in Brussels, he said the term will be an opportunity “to prove once again that our footprint is not measured by the square kilometres of our homeland, but by the seriousness, professionalism, dedication, and reliability with which we serve the common European interest”.

Looking ahead to the six-month term, he said Cyprus will “negotiate, as honest mediators, over 300 legislative and other files, including the very important multiannual financial framework” – the EU’s budget for the period covering the years between 2028 and 2034.

“We will chair over 180 working groups, around 40 formations of the council, and in Cyprus, we will host 19 ministerial councils and 85 high-level meetings culminating in the informal European Council in April. Overall, throughout free Cyprus, we will host over 250 meetings,” he said.

As such, he said, the term will be “undoubtedly a huge challenge” and “an organisational undertaking of large dimensions, with very high demands”.

On this matter, he spoke of a “national mission which serves the reliable presence and projection of our homeland, the Republic of Cyprus, in European affairs”.

He added that Cyprus is now “an outward-looking member state, at the hard core of the EU, with an economy which is now strong, with a say and a role in what is happening in Brussels”.