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The European Union cannot consider its work complete while Cyprus remains divided, European Council President António Costa said Friday, placing reunification firmly among the bloc’s priorities.
“In a united Europe, the reunification of Cyprus is a key issue,” Costa said after arriving at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia for talks with President Nikos Christodoulides.
Costa pledged the EU’s continued support for efforts by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to revive negotiations, saying Europe remained committed to international law and a solution to the Cyprus problem.
“You can always count on the support of the European Union,” he told Christodoulides.
The statement is politically important because it frames the island’s division as more than a long-running disagreement between the two communities. Cyprus has been an EU member since 2004, but European law remains suspended in the northern part of the country, where the Republic does not exercise control.
For Cypriots, the division is not an abstract diplomatic problem. It affects property, freedom of movement, security, and the lives of families separated from homes and land for more than half a century.
However, Costa did not announce a new European initiative, timetable, or breakthrough. The main negotiations remain under the leadership of the United Nations, which is preparing the ground for another meeting involving the two Cypriot communities and the guarantor powers—Greece, Turkey, and Britain.
Christodoulides thanked Costa for his personal involvement and said the EU could play a decisive role in helping reunify the island.
“The Cyprus issue is a European issue,” he said, adding that any settlement must be based on U.N. Security Council resolutions as well as EU law, values, and principles.
The president said he and Costa would discuss the U.N. chief’s latest efforts to restart formal negotiations, which have been stalled since the collapse of talks at Crans-Montana in 2017.
Guterres visited Cyprus in July and said he planned to convene another expanded meeting after sufficient preparation on confidence-building measures, negotiating methods, and the substance of the dispute. No date has yet been announced.
EU’s next budget also on the table
The meeting was not limited to the Cyprus problem. The two leaders also discussed the EU’s next long-term budget, covering 2028 to 2034.
Christodoulides called the Multiannual Financial Framework the most important issue currently facing the bloc and said EU leaders must make every effort to reach a political agreement by the end of 2026.
The negotiations may sound remote from everyday life, but the result will help determine how much European funding is available for agriculture, regional development, roads, digital projects, energy, migration, and security.
For Cyprus, which has benefited heavily from EU programs and recovery funding, the size of the budget, and the conditions attached to it, could shape projects and public spending for years.
Costa said Europe faces difficult decisions in the coming months and stressed that compromise would be essential.
“Our strength is based on our unity,” he said.
The agenda also included Ukraine, the war and instability in the Middle East, EU enlargement, competitiveness, and defense and security.
Costa’s Nicosia visit formed part of a tour of all EU capitals ahead of the next European Council meetings. He said the aim was to listen directly to the concerns of each member state before leaders begin negotiating some of the bloc’s most difficult decisions.
