Photo : AP/ National Herald
27 July 2024, Saturday | NIAS Europe Daily Brief #892
CYPRUS
President, eyes running the EU policy in the Mediterranean
On 24 July, Politico wrote about Nikos Christodoulides interest in taking up a new role of handling EU policy in the Mediterranean. The Cypriot President intends to contribute to issues relating to shipping in the region. This post was announced by Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission’s President. The post was a result of Cyprus lobbying the EU President to focus exclusively in this region. The Republic of Cyprus has been a member of the EU for the past 20 years and has experience of the presidency. 2024 also marks 50 years since Turkey invaded Cyprus. Multiple attempts to establish a settlement have failed. Politico had interviewed Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek Prime Minister, this week who made his interest in the post very apparent. (“Cyprus eyes chance to run EU Mediterranean policy,” Politico, 24 July 2024)
GERMANY
Social Democratic Party tries to gauge its space among domestic voters
On 24 July, Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federation of Germany, announced his intention to run for elections again in the elections due 14 months later. He stated this in his annual press conference that he held before heading towards his summer vacation. The Social Democratic Party, which the Chancellor belongs to, was taken aback by the results of the European Parliament where its rival parties like Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union in Bavaria swept the votes clean. The alliance won almost 31 per cent of the votes, which is the highest. Meanwhile, SDP could reach just 17 per cent. Freidrich Merz, a politician from the CDU party, is the proposed name as the current Chancellor’s main opponent in the upcoming elections. However, Olaf Schulz is confident that his Party will turn the situation around and European Parliamentary Elections is a motivation for them. (“Olaf Schulz to run for German chancellor again in 2025,” Politico, 24 July 2024)