Cyprus vows to prioritise support for Ukraine during EU Council presidency

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has pledged that Cyprus will make support for Ukraine a key priority of its presidency of the Council of the European Union, which begins on January 1.

Christodoulides made the statement on December 21 while presenting the priorities of Cyprus’s EU Council presidency for the second half of 2026, Caliber.Az reports via Ukrainian media.

He stressed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has clearly demonstrated the need to strengthen Europe’s security architecture, enhance the European Union’s defence readiness, and improve its ability to protect its citizens and interests.

“Over the next six months, support for Ukraine will remain a priority of the Cypriot presidency. It could not be otherwise, given that we, Cyprus—the Republic of Cyprus—have direct experience of what invasion means, what occupation means, and what violations of fundamental principles and rights mean,” Christodoulides said.

He added that the Cypriot presidency would promote the swift implementation of the EU’s “white paper” on the future of European defence, as well as the accompanying roadmap aimed at achieving EU defence readiness by 2030.

“We will act with realism and ambition. We are fully convinced that Europe can and must respond to the challenges of our time,” the Cypriot president said.

Christodoulides recalled that during his visit to Kyiv on December 4, he pledged support for Ukraine’s path toward EU membership during Cyprus’s presidency of the Council of the EU.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he expects Cyprus’s EU presidency next year to be “historic” in terms of opening negotiation clusters for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. Earlier, Zelenskyy expressed hope that Ukraine could open and close all six accession negotiation clusters within the next year.

By Khagan Isayev