Cyprus’ EU Presidency a unique opportunity for the country, President says

Cyprus’ 2026 Presidency of the Council of the European Union constitutes a unique opportunity for the country, President Nikos Christodoulides has said, assuring that he personally, and the Government as a whole, are by the side of the staff of the Secretariat of the Cyprus EU Presidency.

After a meeting with the Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna on 30 June, and addressing the employees of the Secretariat during a visit there, President Christodoulides said that the government supports the entire team of the Secretariat, as well as all public officials, in all Ministries and Deputy Ministries working for the Presidency. “Our goal is excellent preparation, and I am confident of a successful presidency,” he said.

The Cyprus Presidency, he added, provides the opportunity to highlight the quality and positive characteristics of our country, “to project with actions and not with words the role of a beneficial, reliable partner in our great European family, with added value in a region of key importance.”

He added that the region was “of particular geostrategic importance” also for the European Union, while that developments in the region “directly affect our security, stability, and economy. It affects everything that concerns us in Brussels.”

The President said that he was monitoring the progress of the preparations. “I recognise and appreciate your hard work and dedication”, he told the employees of the Secretariat.

He also thanked the Deputy Minister, Marilena Raouna, “who is leading this great effort, this huge and complex undertaking with a high sense of responsibility.” He said that Raouna has “deep knowledge of the European institutions, where she worked for many years,” but also the valuable experience she brings from the first EU Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus, in 2012.

Raouna said that the main objective was for the Republic of Cyprus to have a successful Presidency, “to further highlight the added value of Cyprus in the united European family”, to effectively promote important issues on the European agenda for the benefit of Cypriot and European citizens and to strengthen and promote Cyprus as a reliable and beneficial partner in the region, in the EU “and of course as a bridge between the two.”

She referred to the “feverish efforts” by all the staff of the Secretariat for preparations ahead of the Cyprus Presidency, and the “decisive” contribution of all the Ministries, Deputy Ministries and Cyprus’ Permanent Representation in Brussels, but also the “good cooperation” with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Raouna said that a consultation is underway for the six-month priority programme of the Cyprus Presidency while that preparations as regards all the meeting venues in Cyprus, the Philoxenia Conference Center, where the high-level meetings will be hosted, and the Press Center were at an advanced stage.

(Source: CNA)