Cyprus MEPs criticise von der Leyen's speech for omitting Cyprus

Cypriot MEPs have criticised European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for making no reference to Cyprus in her State of the Union address, delivered on Wednesday to the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, as reported by Cyprus Mail. In comments to the Cyprus News Agency, the six MEPs outlined their broader reactions to the speech, touching on European security and defence, the economy, energy, migration, social policy and international developments.

Loukas Fourlas, MEP for DISY and the EPP, said this year's debate comes at a time when Europe must prove in practice that it can defend its security, sovereignty and interests. The EU, he said, needs a common foreign policy, stronger defence, a competitive economy and meaningful strategic autonomy, and faces critical decisions as it must show it can protect its borders, member states and citizens.

Fourlas welcomed von der Leyen's pledge that Europe would defend "every square metre of European soil", but noted that while she referred to Greenland and Ukraine, there was "not a word about Cyprus", recalling that the territory of an EU member state has been under Turkish occupation for more than half a century. He said he had asked the Commission President directly whether any aggressive act by Turkey against Cyprus or Greece would be treated as an attack on European soil and whether, if the conditions were met, the European solidarity enshrined in Article 42.7 would apply. European solidarity, he stressed, cannot have double standards, adding that the Union's credibility rests on consistency between words and deeds. Fourlas described security, competitiveness, social cohesion, energy security and effective migration management as priorities, saying Cyprus is not asking for favours or special treatment but to be treated as an equal member state.

Michalis Hadjipantelas, also an MEP for DISY and the EPP, said the speech confirmed that Europe is at a moment of critical transition, and welcomed its emphasis on European independence and sovereignty, stronger defence, competitiveness and the shift to clean, domestic energy. He said he expects more initiatives from the Commission President to simplify procedures for businesses, strengthen energy security, manage migration effectively and deliver strong social policy. At the same time, he voiced "serious concern" that an address stressing the defence of every square metre of European territory made no mention of the continuing crime of invasion and occupation in Cyprus or of Turkey's aggressive behaviour there and in the Eastern Mediterranean. Amid the UN Secretary-General's efforts to restart talks, he said, this silence hurts Cypriots and reinforces the perception of a two-speed Europe.

George Georgiou, MEP for AKEL and the Left, summed up the speech as "new year, same speech, same obsessions", saying it remains far from the real concerns of many citizens in a period of wars, high prices, a housing crisis, social inequality and climate crisis. He said the Commission promotes "European independence" while giving ever greater weight to security, defence and armaments, pushing towards a war economy, and criticised proposals for a European Security Council, a mechanism modelled on NATO's Article 4, and further defence investment. Security for citizens, he argued, also means being able to pay for electricity and rent, affordable housing, decent wages, strong labour rights, public health and public services, and he called for taxation of extreme wealth and windfall profits. On foreign policy, he said strategic autonomy means a genuinely independent foreign policy, peace, international law and multilateral cooperation, without double standards, and accused the EU of invoking international law selectively, calling for suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.