EU summit in Cyprus: hurdles, fronts, resistance

A beach town in sunshine and really good news to get you in the mood: actually the best conditions for the summit of EU heads of state and government. At the negotiating table in Cyprus Ayia Napa Hungary’s now voted-out head of government is missing this time Viktor Orbánthe agreement that he had blocked for months is finally on the table: the 90 billion loan for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president decided at the last minute to attend the summit in person. He will probably say thank you again for the loans, but also remind the EU of another project that did not progress because of Orbán’s no vote: Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Several chapters of the accession negotiations should have been opened and in progress long ago, including the EU Commissioner responsible for enlargement Marta Kos is pushing for more speed and a new, more efficient negotiating style. But many of the EU heads of government were not at all unhappy about Orbán’s veto.

EU expansion plans unpopular

After all, the plan for Ukraine to join the EU is not going down well at home and the many questions that the accession of such a huge country raises are better put off. Even the long-awaited accession of several Western Balkan countries such as Montenegro and Albania is still considered a problem.

Another topic on the agenda for this summit is similarly sensitive and similarly overdue: the next long-standing one EU-Budget ab 2028. By the summer, Cyprus, currently the EU Council Presidency, wants to have at least a clearly structured basis for the already lengthy tug-of-war over the billions. But the EU heads of government are currently steering – individually or in small groups – in completely different directions.

Some, like Austria, want to save money above all else. Others want to save the funding for their farmers or their poorer regions. Still others are dissatisfied with the budget reform that the EU Commission has planned and want to reverse it. Nothing more than a very superficial debate is therefore expected in Cyprus. The willingness to compromise that is needed to enter into negotiations is not yet there.

Energy crisis unresolved

A lot of excitement and also few results are expected when it comes to the most acute problem that Europe is currently grappling with: the energy crisis triggered by the attack on Iran. The EU Commission has just presented its proposals for combating the crisis. But since energy policy is fundamentally in the hands of the EU member states, these are nothing more than recommendations. These range from more generosity in dealing with energy taxes to the expansion of the electricity grid and the promise of new funding for the energy transition. As little as these proposals are concrete, the debates in Cyprus will also be less concrete.

So it’s more about feeling out the other person to see whether they are putting more radical energy saving ideas into practice in their country than you are. Calls to the population to save energy, as the EU Commission had originally planned, quickly disappeared again because many heads of government didn’t want to see a raised finger from Brussels on a problem for which they had hardly any solutions ready.

Middle East guest appearance

Europe is similarly innocent, but also similarly perplexed, when faced with the root cause of this energy crisis: the attack on Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Nevertheless, the topic will inevitably play a central role at the summit.

A number of top politicians from the crisis region were also invited to Cyprus. In addition to Egypt’s President Abdel al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah, this is above all Syria’s head of state Ahmed al-Sharaa. At least his appearance caused some excitement in advance. After all, the man who is now being invited to the summit was considered the head of a banned terrorist group a few years ago.