Ukraine war and migrant returns to drive EU agenda on Cyprus' watch

The Ukraine war, migrant deportations, and economic security will top the priorities of a "geopolitical" EU presidency by one of the bloc's smallest and furthest-flung members — Cyprus.

“What is needed right now, and this is the key goal of our presidency, is an autonomous European Union, an autonomous European Union as an essential next step in the transformation towards European integration,” said Cyprus' preseident Nikos Christodoulides when presenting the priorities of his country's EU Council presidency last December.

Cyprus outlined five pillars for EU autonomy: security and defence, competitiveness, openness to the world, shared values, and a strong budget, Christodoulides said.

“Ukraine will remain a top priority for Cyprus. The Russian invasion and continued aggression towards Ukraine, for us, is unacceptable," Cyprus' EU ambassador, Christina Rafti, told journalists on Friday (12 December) as Nicosia prepares to start setting the EU agenda from 1 January for the next six months.

The fact US president Donald Trump had put in doubt the decades-old transatlantic ties meant the EU had to play a bigger role in defending Ukraine, she added.

“Some 80 years of the US security umbrella is ending, and the US is certainly disengaging from Europe's security", Rafti said.

In this context, she described enlargement in former Soviet satellites and in the Western Balkans as having "geostrategic" value.

“We share that the accession negotiations with Ukraine should have opened yesterday,” she said, alluding to a veto on progress by the Kremlin-friendly Hungary.

“Poland and Denmark have been very strong supporters of enlargement” but still “progress was quite limited", she added, referring to the previous two EU presidencies.

But Cyprus would also “work rigorously for progress for Ukraine and Moldova, and for the Western Balkans. We need to acknowledge the progress made, and to encourage all the countries and the progress they have made," Rafti said.

Turning to immigration, she said: “Cyprus is a country that has the highest number of irregular migrants, and we have this negative record for the past six years.”

The EU's new migration pact is to enter into force in June 2026, amid a slew of other migrant-linked legislation in the pipeline.

And Rafti pledged that: "[Migrant] return will feature high in the priority for Cyprus."

Cyprus is the closest EU neighbour to the Middle East and the ambassador said Nicosia would foster "closer relations with our southern partners, Middle Eastern countries, Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf countries" in the so-called 'Pact for the Mediterranean' club, which is to meet in Cyprus in April.

“Cyprus has very close relations with all the 10 [Pact for the Mediterranean] partners, so we will work with that," Rafti said.

Meanwhile, the EU was also facing "geoeconomic" challenges, the Cypriot envoy said.

Mariam Khotenashvili, an EU policy analyst from the Trans European Policy Studies Association (Tepsa) also told EUobserver that Europe was falling behind the US and China on growth.

“This is very, very scary for the European Union, especially as on top the US has increased tariffs on our goods and Chinese production has been partly diverted to the EU," she said.

Economic danger

The economy required investment "to support entrepreneurship and innovation", she added, while "European companies currently are really facing crippling bureaucracies."

Cyprus will continue work on the EU's 'Omnibus' laws deregulating industry for the sake of growth.

And Rafti, the Cypriot ambassador, said: “We need to have a balance between competitiveness and our climate targets," as the EU also rolled back green laws to clear the way for business.

Cyprus holds the presidency as the final member of a 'trio' that began with Poland (January-June 2025) and continued with Denmark (July-December 2025).

It will also continue the EU's next long-term budget talks, due to be agreed by 2027.

The next trio consists of Ireland, Bulgaria, and Greece and will begin on 1 July 2026, with each group closely coordinating priorities.

"At the beginning of every presidency, we have very big expectations. And then at the end of it, no matter how good the presidency was, we see that the work has to just simply continue," said Khotenashvili.

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