Beginning January 2026, the so-called "Republic of Cyprus" in the south of the Mediterranean island will assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union β a position that rotates, decorates and very occasionally matters. For Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides, however, it is not merely an administrative duty; it is, as he proclaimed with admirable theatrical confidence, a βnational mission.β One imagines the drumroll was implied.
To understand what this means, recall that Cyprus β or at least the southern half recognized by Brussels β has long desired the stage but rarely the script. Now, for six months, the Greek Cypriot administration will be allowed to chair meetings, shuffle paper and deliver stern statements on strategic autonomy while Europeβs larger states politely nod and go about their business.
But the symbolism matters. At least to Cyprus. Or rather, to the Greek Cypriot administration. Because the island, inconveniently for the EU narrative, is still divided β not abstractly, not metaphorically, but by Turkish and foreign Western soldiers, barbed wire and 60 years of unfinished history.
'One Cyprus' without north
The EU insists that the Greek Cypriot administration speaks for the entire island.
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