Cyprus’ EU presidency promises to be a six-month eternity

Cyprus has taken over the EU Council presidency. It promises to take the bull by the horns and deliver tangible results, including on issues that affect the daily lives of citizens, its own included. But what issues? That depends on whom you ask.

At the official ceremony marking the start of the presidency, the focus also returned to the Cyprus issue. It is a familiar refrain in Cyprus, a stock phrase repeated so often its meaning has worn thin. “The heart of Europe beats at the southeasternmost tip of the union, in its last occupied member state,” still divided.

During these six months, which appear an eternity in Cypriot political terms given the scale of the ambitions set, leaders might evade explanations for years of failure on the Cyprus issue. They may still need to explain why, after the recent election of the new Turkish Cypriot leader, no meaningful step has followed, not even a new crossing point, while daily life on both sides of the divide remains burdened for a far longer eternity.

At the checkpoints, crossing from one side to the other is less a matter of distance than of stamina. Queues form. Waiting times stretch. Tempers fray. And for security there, verbal restraint is the first casualty.

Still, let us not burden our partners further with the Cyprus issue. The international community is saturated, not hostile or indifferent, but exhausted after decades of recycled assurances and inconclusive processes. The UN, the EU and every well-meaning mediator share the same limit: they cannot create momentum where those involved have chosen words over movement.

At home, the explanation is simpler. Much of the Greek Cypriot political class, simplifying a convoluted history for public consumption, reminded us that stagnation results from Turkey’s intransigence, rendering excessive introspection unnecessary, if not unpatriotic. Across the divide, the argument runs in reverse.

Political paralysis does not remain confined to negotiating rooms and official statements; it filters into everyday life, shaping how people live, move and cope.

“Forget Turkey, I’ve got other problems now,” a Cypriot EU citizen mutters, half to himself, stepping away from politics as he washes the veranda with the garden hose. “Look at this,” he says, watching the water disappear almost as quickly as it falls, hoping the few drops left in the island’s reservoirs might rinse away reality along with the dust. Per capita water figures are dull, and the future feels abstract, even as Cyprus ranks second lowest in Europe after Malta, with 400 cubic metres of water per person each year, compared to an EU average of about 4,000. And if FAO projections hold, within 25 years the island may be so water-starved that the Atacama Desert would look fertile for kolokasi cultivation when compared with Cyprus.

Under 45°C heat, the same citizen calculates the cost of photovoltaics, wondering why, on an island with sunshine 300 days a year, electricity remains expensive, dirty and unreliable. But no worries. One day the Great Sea Interconnector, a proposed subsea cable intended to link Cyprus’ isolated electricity grid to Europe’s, might be completed, even as the original 2030 operational target looks optimistic amid financial, regulatory and contractual complications.

Public transport offers little relief, with entire rural and peripheral areas remaining white spots, untouched by regular routes and forcing residents into private cars. Traffic is permanent, and parking becomes a war of attrition.

Bureaucracy remains slow and paper-based. Foreign university degrees can take months, even years, to be recognised, leaving qualified professionals in limbo. Efforts at digitisation meet institutional resistance, and digital services appear only, as pilot projects or as cybersecurity incidents, before retreating to forms, stamps and physical presence.

By summer, everything converges. Temperatures pass 40 degrees; wildfires return on schedule, and EU infringement procedures for environmental non-compliance accumulate, reminding Cyprus that European membership measures not only declarations and ceremonies but also obligations that arrive without applause.

No state is flawless. It’s logical to expect fewer declarations and more focus on getting things done. At the end of this presidency, I do not expect miracles. Coherence would suffice. That the basics function. And perhaps the revolutionary luxury of a half-hour shower taken without the feeling that I am undermining national security.

That, too, would count as a tangible result.