The President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, described the Cypriot Presidency as one of the most substantive and productive presidencies of the Council of the European Union in recent years, while also announcing that the Deputy Ministry of European Affairs and the European desks within the ministries would be retained in order to capitalize on the expertise gained.

During the closing ceremony of the Presidency, held at the “Filoxeni” Conference Center in the presence of hundreds of government officials, volunteers, and all those who contributed to the effort, Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna and Minister of Foreign Affairs Konstantinos Kompos, also spoke of an internationally recognized success that strengthened Cyprus’s role and voice in the European Union.

The President of the Republic noted that the success of the Cypriot Presidency exceeded all expectations and attributed the result to months of preparation, the professionalism, and the collective effort of all those who worked to bring it to fruition.

“Behind every successful summit, behind every agreement, behind every positive comment we heard over these six months, there were people. And those people are all of you,” he said, addressing the staff and volunteers who participated in the preparation and implementation of the Presidency.

Mr. Christodoulides noted that Cyprus has proven that, despite its small size and the fact that it is the only European Union member state that remains under occupation, it can successfully organize and lead such an important European process.

“Little Cyprus, the only European Union member state under occupation, is capable of organizing, coordinating, and leading such a major effort in a way that earns everyone’s respect,” he said.

The President of the Republic made special mention of the confidence with which Cyprus held the Presidency of the Council of the EU, noting that, despite its small size, it played an active role and achieved tangible results.

“At times with audacity, I must say, considering the size of our country compared to the other member states of the European Union. We were very bold during this Presidency, with significant results,” he said.

As he noted, this approach helped ensure that the Cypriot Presidency was recognized internationally as one of the most substantive and productive in recent years, despite the particularly challenging geopolitical conditions that prevailed during the six-month term.

Referring to the challenges of the six-month period, he noted that the Cypriot Presidency was called upon to address more than one international crisis.

“We were faced with more than one crisis, and I believe we responded to these crises with complete success. It was yet another challenge for our Presidency, yet another hurdle we overcame,” he said.

He made special mention of the Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, whom he thanked for coordinating the effort, saying that “without Marilena, we would not have succeeded,” while he also congratulated the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the members of the Cabinet, the officials of all ministries and government agencies, the volunteers, and the media that covered the Presidency.

The President also announced that the Government had decided to retain both the Deputy Ministry of European Affairs and the European units within the ministries in order to capitalize on the expertise gained.

“We have decided to retain the Deputy Ministry of European Affairs and to keep all European units within the ministries. The European Union and our role in it are not merely part of our foreign policy. It is, to a large extent, a matter of domestic policy, because decisions are made in Europe that affect the daily lives of Cypriot citizens,” he said.

Concluding his speech, he called on everyone who worked for the Cypriot Presidency to feel proud of their contribution.

“Be proud, because this success is also your personal achievement,” he concluded.

Raouna: The Cypriot Presidency proved that effectiveness matters more than a country’s size

The Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, conveyed the message that Cyprus has demonstrated in practice that even a small country can play a decisive role in the European Union, provided it has a plan, efficiency, and strong preparation, said Marilena Raouna, Deputy Minister for European Affairs, during the closing ceremony of Cyprus’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

“Perhaps before we took over, some people thought: a small Member State with a major political problem—how much can it really achieve? But we proved that what matters is not square kilometers. It’s what we bring to the table. It’s our effectiveness,” she said.

Ms. Rauna noted that the Cypriot Presidency succeeded in establishing Cyprus as a reliable mediator, achieving progress on a number of difficult European dossiers.

“Cyprus has emerged as a model, as an honest mediator, delivering results on issues that had been at an impasse for more than a decade,” she said, referring to issues such as defense and security, competitiveness, enlargement, the protection of minors online, and the new Multiannual Financial Framework.

In presenting the report on the Cypriot Presidency, she noted that during the six-month term, approximately 1,600 meetings were held in Brussels, more than 300 events took place in Cyprus, 19 informal ministerial meetings, as well as the first-ever informal European Council summit hosted in Cyprus, while the country welcomed more than 30,000 visitors.

The Deputy Minister also noted that the Secretariat of the Cyprus Presidency was established from the ground up, in parallel with the preparations for the initiative.

“We built a department from scratch and did all of this while simultaneously carrying out the preparations for the Cyprus Presidency,” she said.

Addressing civil servants, staff at the Permanent Representation in Brussels, law enforcement officials, and volunteers, she emphasized that the success of the Cyprus Presidency was the result of a collective effort.

“The success of the Cypriot Presidency is your success,” she said.

Ms. Rauna said that the conclusion of the Cypriot Presidency does not mark the end of the effort, but rather the beginning of a new phase of building on the experience and expertise gained during the six-month term, with the aim of further strengthening Cyprus’s presence and role in the European Union.

“While the chapter of the six-month term may be closing, another is opening, in which we will build upon the legacy left by the Cypriot Presidency. We have a stronger voice and a stronger role, and we will leverage these for the benefit of Cyprus and its citizens,” he said.

As he noted, during the preparation and implementation of the Presidency, an effective coordination mechanism was established between the Secretariat of the Presidency, the ministries, the deputy ministries, and the Permanent Representation of Cyprus in Brussels, which, he said, constitutes an important legacy for the future management of the country’s European affairs.

Kompos: The Cypriot Presidency was recognized by all, despite multiple international crises

Foreign Minister Konstantinos Kompos, described the Cypriot Presidency as a national mission that was successfully completed, noting that its positive assessment does not come from the Cypriot side, but from European partners and EU institutions.

“The result is not something we ourselves describe as a success. It is one of those rare occasions when everyone else is saying so,” he said, adding that those who were in Brussels during the six-month term noted the particularly positive atmosphere surrounding the Cypriot Presidency.

Mr. Kompos noted that the Cypriot Presidency was called upon to manage, in addition to its regular duties, a series of serious international developments, citing, for example, Venezuela, Greenland, and Iran. As he said, under different circumstances, these crises could have negatively affected the course of a presidency; however, in the case of Cyprus, “I believe that did not happen. Quite the opposite.”

Referring to the preparations for the Cyprus Presidency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs recalled that, when the effort began, the country had neither the necessary infrastructure nor the mechanisms required to undertake the task.

“We had to find a building we didn’t have, build a team that didn’t exist, and, above all, find money that wasn’t there either,” he said, giving special credit to the Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, for coordinating the overall effort.

Mr. Kompos also thanked the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and especially the diplomats, who, as he noted, shouldered a significant additional workload during the six-month term.

In closing, he noted that the greatest proof of the success of the Cypriot Presidency is that, when he was recently asked in an interview what Cyprus had failed to achieve during its term, the only answer he could give was that “if we had had just a few more days, we would have wrapped up one or two more issues that were now ripe for resolution,” describing this as the best confirmation of the effectiveness of Cyprus’s efforts.

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Source: CNA