President Nikos Christodoulides is in Brussels on Thursday to participate in the extraordinary European Council summit focused on the latest developments in Ukraine.

The EU leaders will discuss the current situation in the country with the online participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

A working lunch will follow, during which issues related to the defence of the EU and the need for greater strategic autonomy of the Union will be discussed.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday on the sidelines of a tour with the Dutch royal couple, along the green line in Nicosia, Christodoulides, said, “if we want to rise as the European Union, if we want to talk about the strategic autonomy of the EU, we must finally make decisions.”

He also expressed his satisfaction with announcements made on Tuesday by President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the defence package.

“Instructions have been given to the foreign ministry and the ministry of defence, and to the secretariat dealing with European programmes, so as to see how the Republic can utilise the package concerning lending in particular,” the president also said, adding that the state has not overstepped the fiscal rules, maintaining a public debt at 68 per cent with a downward trend.

The president’s office announced that before the EU summit on Thursday morning, Christodoulides will participate in a meeting of the European People’s Party (EPP).