Filenews 20 November 2025
The Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection, Nicolas Ioannides, appeared optimistic about the progress of Cyprus' accession to the Schengen zone, after his meeting in Brussels with the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, expressing the assessment that within 2026 the required political support from the member states will be secured to complete the process.
In his statements, Mr. Ioannidis said that he told the Commissioner "that there is readiness in relation to our effort to become a full member of the Schengen area. We are ready from a technical point of view, the technical inspections will be carried out in the next period by the Commission and there is a positive attitude in principle so that this issue can be completed from a technical point of view soon, so that within 2026 the issue can be definitively closed." Wishing, of course, he added, "to secure political support so that the Republic of Cyprus becomes a full member of the Schengen zone".
The Deputy Minister clarified regarding the time milestones of Cyprus' accession to Schengen, that he expects a positive assessment from a technical point of view by the European Commission before the end of 2025 so that "within 2026 political support from the other member states can be secured as usual to complete this effort".
Mr. Ioannides described the meeting with the Commissioner as very constructive, while clarifying that in addition to Schengen, he presented to the Commissioner the priorities of Cyprus for the Presidency of the Council of the EU. "I mentioned that it is our priority to ensure that the Pact on Migration and Asylum is implemented in June 2026," he said.
"I expressed our will to proceed with the pending legislative files in order to complete some legislation or to contribute to the promotion of some other issues even if they are not completed during our presidency," he added, pointing out that there is a very good willingness on both sides for cooperation.
"We are already working very closely with the European Commission. There are good interpersonal relationships, there is professionalism and we aspire during our education to strengthen this cooperation so that, as I said, we can have a successful presidency both on immigration issues and in general", underlined the Deputy Minister.
Regarding the Pact on Migration and Asylum that is expected to enter into force within the presidency in June 2026, Mr. Ioannides reiterated the long-standing position of the Republic of Cyprus: "Such a thorny issue as migration should be managed by the European Union as a whole and the member states within it in order to avoid the mistakes of the past." Referring to the experience of the Union a decade ago, he said that "unfortunately the refugee crisis of 2015 found the European Union and the member states unprepared, as a result of which we have the adoption of unilateral measures and there is no coherence in the measures taken in Europe".
In this context, he described the Pact as a "huge opportunity" to "be fully implemented so that the European Union can deal with this difficult issue in a unified and coherent way", admitting that "there are some different views, and that it is difficult to have a complete identification of 27 member states on any issue". However, it is "better to have a general single framework within which we can move as member states than to have this fragmentation that existed in previous years".
"Therefore, we consider the adoption of the pact a very important step, a very good start and it is up to the member states and the Commission to work so that it is implemented consistently and we have the results we all expect for the proper management of migration," he added.
Asked about the presidency's strategy towards the member states, which have already unilaterally stated that they will not implement the solidarity part provided for in the Pact, Mr. Ioannidis informed that he has already started bilateral meetings with member states, as early as the last Luxembourg Home Affairs Council last October.
In the same tone, he added, "we will continue even before the assumption of the Presidency by the Republic of Cyprus to listen to our partners, to listen to their concerns, their concerns, because I believe that there is an agreement on the substance of the Pact, we all want there to be a comprehensive management of the migration issue and the individual disagreements are legitimate and understandable to a certain extent."
"Our effort as the presidency will now be to act conciliatory, consensual, in order to achieve, as I said, the proper implementation of the Pact, which will be to the benefit of all member states and EU citizens," the Deputy Minister of Migration stressed in closing.
