Metsola’s Cyprus visit ‘a message of commitment to this country’

European parliament President Roberta Metsola on Saturday described her visit to Cyprus as “a message of our commitment to this country”.

Speaking upon her visit to the presidential palace, she pointed out the frequency of her visits to the island, having travelled to Cyprus on four occasions since being elected as European parliament president in 2022.

“This is a message of our commitment to this country and your leadership and the very bright future for which we can work together,” she told President Nikos Christodoulides.

She also highlighted the relatively high 59 per cent turnout of voters in Cyprus at last year’s European parliament elections.

“Last year, Cypriots went to vote in large numbers in the European elections, and we see this as a commitment to the EU as a member state, as a belief that solutions can be found at a European level, and that Cyprus and its citizens are an integral part of the EU,” she said.

As such, she added, “the European parliament always stands by your side”, adding her thanks to Christodoulides for “your leadership and your efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, for which we will continue to support you”.

She also briefly spoke on the matter of Cyprus’ aim to join the Schengen zone, saying the European parliament “will always be by your side and will actively support you”.

On this matter, Christodoulides said his government is “working hard to make 2026, in time, Schengen for Cyprus”.

“2026 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Schengen agreement, and we count on your support to achieve this strategic goal for Cyprus and the European Union,” he told Metsola.

He also pointed out that the visit comes a few months ahead Cyprus’ undertaking of the Council of the European Union’s rotating presidency.

“We are working intensively to have an ambitious, results-oriented presidency, which will lead us closer to more integration, to a more autonomous EU. The European parliament has a vital role to play, and I am confident that we will work together for a successful presidency,” he said.

He also touched on the Cyprus problem, saying the EU “has a very important role to play” and that it “has the tools to lead us to a successful outcome”.

“I thank you for your clear position and your long-term support,” he said.

Later, she visited the Cyens centre of excellence in Nicosia’s old town, and stressed the importance of Europe to a group of young people who were there to welcome her.

“Europe is not something abstract which you learn about in school, in discussions – it is a living organism,” she said, adding that Europe “lives and breathes every day”.

“It is not an organism which wants things to remain as they have always been, it is a union which looks to the future and the past,” she said.

She added that those in attendance “care about education, employment, the climate, peace, the future of Cyprus”.

“I see that the new generation of Cyprus wants to move forward. Your challenges are also the union’s challenges; your hopes are also the union’s hopes … It is said that Cyprus is on the edge of Europe, but it is at its centre. We Mediterranean people say the Mediterranean is the epicentre of the world, and that is true in a sense,” she said.

Christodoulides also spoke at the Cyens centre of excellence, focusing on the Cyprus problem.

“Despite the difficulties, despite the challenges, despite the intransigent Turkish stance, we remain committed and will do everything possible in the great effort to reunify Cyprus,” he said.

“For us who experience every day the consequences of the division and the occupation which has continued for 51 years, there is no other choice, there is no other path beyond the sustainable and functional resolution of the Cyprus problem, there is no other path than the reunification of our country and our people,” he said.

On this matter, he thanked Metsola “for her friendship and her longstanding support”, both personally and on behalf of the European parliament, describing her as “a voice which consistently expresses the values of the union but is also a steadfast friend of Cyprus”.

Addressing the young people gathered to meet them, he said his government’s “vision, main goal, and constant pursuit” is to “improve the daily life of each and every one of you”.