Brussels, Belgium. President Nikos Christodoulides said Cyprus’ six-month term holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union was an “extraordinary honour” and a “national mission” at the end of Friday’s European Council summit, the last summit held during the island’s term. He said the role carried the responsibility of being the voice of 27 member states and serving the common European interest of 450 million citizens.
Closing remarks at the summit
Christodoulides made the comments at an evening press conference alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. He also thanked European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Cyprus’ Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna.
Budget discussions
The European Union’s multiannual financial framework for 2028 to 2034 was central to the day’s discussions. Christodoulides said Cyprus had “achieved our goal of presenting a negotiating box with figures, and securing partial general approaches on the key financial instruments and on other sectoral proposals”.
He acknowledged disagreements among member states over the Cypriot government’s proposal for the budget. Referring to his intervention during the summit, he said he told fellow leaders that it was a success that not a single one of them was “100 per cent satisfied” with the figures put forward by Cyprus.
“This is precisely because it must be a balanced compromise,” he said, adding that it was of the “utmost importance” to reach a conclusion and have the budget ready by the end of this year.
Ukraine support
Christodoulides also referred to support for Ukraine during Cyprus’ six-month term. He said that, “from our corner of the EU, as the union’s last member state that is under occupation, it is absolutely clear what is at stake”.
He said the European Union maintained its support through an agreement on a €90 billion financial assistance package and by adopting the 20th package of restrictive measures against Russia.
EU enlargement
On enlargement, Christodoulides said accession negotiations for Ukraine, Moldova, Albania and Montenegro had advanced actively. He said negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova began at the start of this week.
