Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis in Rome on February. 26. Meloni emphasized that Italy and Cyprus have worked closely “from the very beginning to consolidate a different approach within Europe on migration, to defend the EU’s external borders, to counter mass illegal migration with greater effectiveness, and to strengthen legal channels.”

She spoke alongside Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to the media after meeting with him in Rome. Cyprus currently holds the alternating EU presidency, which runs from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2026.

Read AlsoCyprus: Emphasis on returns as EU presidency takes shape

'We are happy that Cyprus holds the EU presidency'

"During our meeting, we reiterated our satisfaction with the approval of the EU list of safe countries of origin and the introduction of the concept of safe third countries," Meloni added, noting that "we have confirmed our commitment to implementing the Migration and Asylum Pact quickly. Much remains to be done, but we want to thank the Cypriot president for the very valuable work that he is moving forward on to achieve the final approval of the new regulation on repatriation."

She stressed that Italy is “especially happy that Cyprus” holds the EU presidency, noting a “high level of harmony” between Rome and Nicosia on migration and other shared priorities.

Read AlsoCyprus takes over EU presidency, with migration as a key policy issue

'Mediterranean is a strategic border for Europe'

"Italy and Cyprus," Meloni said, "as is well known, are Mediterranean countries, and our populations both belong to a maritime space that projects its influence far beyond geographic borders, and is becoming ever more a crossroads of global interconnections. As Italy could never imagine its identity without the Mediterranean, the same is true, of course, for Cyprus."

"Geography and history," she noted, "have thus shaped our relations, they shaped our history, and are bound to shape our shared future as well."

The prime minister underscored in noting the Cypriot president's work in these areas that "the Mediterranean represents a strategic border for Europe, the point at which trade, energy, safety, and stability meet."

"We worked a great deal in these years. We worked with a great deal of determination and constancy to underscore this aspect, which is an aspect of our nations, but also a European one. We worked to demand that the Mediterranean receive the strategic attention it deserves from Europe. We did this in Brussels, in the many international summits that we took part in and in the various formats that we both belong to," she added.

Read AlsoEU Council gives final greenlight to new EU asylum measures