Christodoulides says Cyprus reunification would bolster EU autonomy and regional crisis response

Maastricht, Netherlands. President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday that reuniting Cyprus would reinforce the EU’s strategic autonomy and improve its capacity to address Middle East crises. Speaking to students at Maastricht University, he described the island’s EU membership as its greatest advantage in pursuing reunification.

Reunification and regional cooperation

Christodoulides said foreign military occupation continued across over one-third of Cyprus. A settlement, he argued, would enable the island to fulfil its potential as a link connecting Europe with the broader region.

He said developments across the Middle East and Gulf were inseparable from Europe’s economic and security interests, citing the Hormuz crisis and its effects on trade, inflation and energy prices.

Cyprus’s position as the EU member furthest to the southeast gave it a particular capacity to advance cooperation with the region, he said.

Among the examples he cited were the Amalthea corridor delivering humanitarian assistance to Gaza and Cyprus’s work evacuating foreign citizens during emergencies in the region. He also highlighted initiatives addressing climate change, firefighting and cooperation on security.

Christodoulides referred to a series of contacts during Cyprus’s presidency of the EU Council, which brought European Union leaders together with their counterparts representing Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Gulf.

Deeper integration and independent action

Responding to growing international uncertainty required closer EU integration, Christodoulides said. He argued that the bloc should develop its ability to act independently when needed while maintaining cooperation with partners outside the Union.

Greater integration would strengthen Europe and leave it better prepared to act in an uncertain global environment, he said.

He dismissed arguments that EU strategic autonomy could not be achieved, saying the Union should build on the vision of founding figures such as Robert Schuman and Jean Monnet.