Cyprus will assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 January 2026, with a plan to prioritise migration, relations with southern neighbours, and water-resilience during its six-month term.
Cypriot deputy minister for migration and international protection, Nicholas A. Ioannides, emphasised his country would advance current EU priorities — competitiveness, defence, strategic autonomy, the upcoming EU budget (multi-annual financial framework, MFF), and enlargement talks with Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans — while carving out space for its own regional concerns.
Speaking at an event in Nicosia he said: “We view migration as a shared European responsibility, one that demands coherence, solidarity and collective effort”, describing the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum as an important step forward.
Cyprus wants to put focus on collaboration with third countries, especially with its neighbouring countries around the Mediterranean basin, and emphasise returns through so called “return hubs” and voluntary return programs.
While the rotating presidency doesn’t have the competences for foreign policy, Cyprus wants to give more attention to countries in northern Africa and the Middle East — such as Egypt, Israel and Palestine.
But more unusually, Cyprus also plans to take on water resilience as part of the EU’s broader sustainability agenda.
Building on the EU Commission’s recently-developed water resilience strategy, deputy minister Ioannides highlighted mounting threats from droughts and water-related disasters and noted that desertification, drought, and water scarcity require coordinated European responses.
The presidency rotates among groups of three member states working as a trio. Together, they set an 18-month agenda outlining the council’s priorities and key issues. Each country then develops its own detailed program for its six-month turn at the helm.
Cyprus is the last of the trio with Poland (1 January-30 June 2025) and Denmark (1 July-31 December 2025) as its predecessors.
