European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will be touring countries of the region after her January 7 visit to Cyprus for the assumption of the EU presidency, which President Nikos Christodoulides said was happening at “a decisive and difficult juncture”.

In statements to the press early on Friday, after a night-long European Council session in Brussels, Christodoulides said Cyprus’ top priority during its six-month EU presidency that starts in January will be to strengthen the effort to achieve the strategic autonomy of the bloc and its effort “to be ahead of developments and not just follow them”.

“The assumption of the presidency is happening at a decisive and I would say difficult juncture, as proven by [Thursday] night,” Christodoulides said, pointing to “different views, different approaches, but also the necessity as presidency to find the golden mean, to find solutions and jointly move forward”.

The Cyprus presidency, he said, would have to deal with the Multiannual Financial Framework, competitiveness, Ukraine, defence and security, enlargement and migration.

“These are just some of the issues our presidency will be called upon, not only to handle, but – I reiterate – to find solutions to, so that European integration can move forward,” he said.

Christodoulides said he had “no doubt that a strong EU, which will be strategically autonomous, means a strong Republic of Cyprus”.

The second pillar, he said, was “the substantive and institutional strengthening of EU relations with countries of the broader Middle East”.

The EU, he explained, had “common challenges, common strategic interests”.

“It is a point of possible convergence with the US and we as the EU must certainly do more to establish our cooperation and to prove in practice what we often say, that the EU must have a 360-degree perspective,” he said.

Cyprus, he added, is the member state that “can lead this effort on behalf of the EU, taking into consideration our geographical location and our excellent bilateral relations with all the states in the region”.

It was in this context, he said, that von der Leyen would be touring the region next month.

The president also referred to the third main priority, which was to give “convincing and permanent answers to issue of daily life, issues concerning the daily lives of European citizens”.

He listed housing, the cost of energy, the protection of children from social media, health and education as part of this priority.

“So, we are ready,” he said, pointing out that the expectations of European institutions and the member states were high, nevertheless “I am absolutely sure that we will win this big bet” and prove that Cyprus is “a reliable, predictable, serious and effective partner”.