On January 1st, Cyprus will take over the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers for a rotating period of six months. In geopolitically difficult times, one of the three remaining neutral member states will then assume the demanding role of the EU Council Presidency. This means chairing all EU Councils of Ministers – with the exception of the Council of Foreign Ministers, which, as is well known, has been chaired by the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy since the Treaty of Lisbon came into force – as well as chairing around 200 working and preparatory bodies of the Council of Ministers. A challenging task even in normal times – especially for a small country like Cyprus with only around 1.2 million inhabitants, which, as a neutral country, also has other political priorities.
