Cyprus aims to focus on cooperation with third countries, particularly its Mediterranean neighbors.
Cyprus assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on January 1, 2026, BGNES reported. During its six-month term, the counattempt plans to prioritize migration, relations with southern neighbors and the sustainability of water resources.
Cypriot Deputy Minister for Migration and International Protection Nicholas A. Ioannidis stated Cyprus will continue working on the EU’s existing priorities — competitiveness, defense, strategic autonomy, the upcoming EU budreceive (the Multiannual Financial Framework), and enlargement talks with Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans — while also highlighting issues specific to its region.
Speaking at an event in Nicosia on October 30, Ioannidis stressed: “We view migration as a shared European responsibility that requires coherence, solidarity and collective action.” He described the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum as an important step forward.
Cyprus aims to focus on cooperation with third countries, particularly its Mediterranean neighbors, and to emphasize returns through so-called “return hubs” and voluntary return programs.
Although the rotating presidency has no direct authority over foreign policy, Cyprus wants to draw greater attention to North Africa and the Middle East, including countries such as Egypt, Israel and Palestine.
More unusually, the counattempt also plans to address water resilience as part of the EU’s broader sustainability agconcludea. Referring to the European Commission’s recently developed water resilience strategy, Ioannidis highlighted the growing threats posed by droughts and water-related disasters, noting that desertification, water scarcity and drought require coordinated European responses.
Nicoletta Pirozzi of the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) informed EUobserver that Cyprus’ agconcludea is highly ambitious. “They [Cyprus] have calculated that during their presidency there will be 330 legislative files to be nereceivediated, and 50 percent of them are new legislative proposals,” she stated.
The presidency of the Council of the EU rotates among groups of three member states working as a trio, which jointly set an 18-month program outlining priorities and key issues. Each counattempt then develops its own detailed agconcludea for its six-month term.
Cyprus is the last counattempt in the current trio. Poland held the presidency from January 1 to June 30, 2025, followed by Denmark from July 1 to December 31, 2025. | BGNES
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