Small Cyprus wants to leave its footprint during its EU Presidency, Deputy Minister says

Cyprus' EU Presidency, during the first half of 2026, aspires to leave its own mark and its own footprint in a period of multiple and numerous challenges for the Union itself and to highlight the role of Cyprus in the region, Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, has said.

Raouna, on 29 July, addressed participants in a public dialogue for the six-month agenda of the Cyprus Presidency that took place at the Presidential Palace. Thematic sessions followed the brief address by the Deputy Minister, in which representatives from Ministries, Deputy Ministries, bodies, organisations and other stakeholders took part.

The Deputy Minister said that in approximately 150 days, small Cyprus will assume the Presidency of the Council of the EU, which will last 181 days and will be mostly Brussels-based.

She said that it is a national mission and each member state has the opportunity to assume the rotating presidency approximately every 14 years. Raouna noted that it is important to achieve tangible results and further highlight the role of Cyprus as a reliable and effective partner, to leave our mark in a period of numerous challenges and serious geopolitical developments and to advance the agenda as an honest mediator.

She stressed that the preparation process has stepped up and we are now at the final stage, adding that the agenda we have "inherited" consists of 330 legislative and other files. The Presidency program and logo will be presented by the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, at an event on December 12.

The Deputy Minister also noted that our compass is of course the strategic agenda of the European Union with long-term goals in three pillars, namely a stronger and safer European Union, more competitive and more free and democratic.

She indicated, at the same time, that Cyprus has its own characteristics: it is an island state, the most south-eastern tip of the EU, an integral part of the south-eastern Mediterranean and the last occupied  EU member state.

Referring to the challenges of the EU, she said that we need to build a stronger EU and this does not only relate to the strengthening of its defense industry but also concerns issues of security, migration and competitiveness.

One of the files that the Cyprus Presidency will manage concerns the Omnibus Simplification Package in an attempt for the EU to simplify procedures and to strengthen the backbone of the EU economy, which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the strengthening of resilience for existing and future challenges, as well as the well-being of citizens, the rule of law and social justice.

Addressing the participants Raouna thanked them for their interest and indicated that the Presidency is a participatory process and today's workshops aim to ensure that the Secretariat of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU 2026 listens to their expectations and that an exchange of views takes place.

(Source: CNA)