President Nikos Christodoulides heads to Brussels this week for talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the Cyprus problem and a European Council summit expected to be dominated by the war in the Middle East.
The meeting with Guterres is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 pm local time, with both sides using their presence in Brussels for the European Council to discuss the latest developments in the Cyprus negotiations. Nicosia regards Guterres’s readiness to meet at this juncture as a further sign of his active engagement with the issue.
The meeting follows a letter from Christodoulides to Guterres in which the president signalled that neither Cyprus’s EU Council Presidency nor upcoming parliamentary elections should be seen as an obstacle to progress on the Cyprus problem.
Christodoulides will begin his Brussels programme on Wednesday morning with an address at the European Policy Centre, where he is expected to focus on defence and security in light of regional developments, according to philenews sources.
On Thursday he will attend the European People’s Party session before joining a migration meeting initiated by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The gathering, which started with six participating states including Cyprus, has since grown to 20 heads of state or government. Government circles described it to philenews as resembling a European Council before the European Council, with the aim of aligning positions on migration ahead of the formal summit.
This is the first European Council to take place under Cyprus’s EU Council Presidency, and government sources describe it as convening at a critical juncture in international affairs.
The summit agenda includes Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelensky attending and discussions expected on continued support and a 20th package of sanctions against Russia.
The situation in the Middle East is considered by Nicosia to be the central item, with leaders set to examine implications for energy security, energy prices and migration.
Defence and security — a priority Cyprus has championed both within its Presidency and more broadly — also features prominently, along with the single market, competitiveness and the multiannual financial framework.
Christodoulides is expected to brief fellow leaders on the international support Cyprus has received, with government circles noting that the crisis had demonstrated European solidarity in practice. He may also update leaders on the situation in Lebanon, according to sources.
A working lunch with Guterres on Thursday will focus on the international situation, with the Middle East again expected to take centre stage.
