{"id":22976,"date":"2026-04-12T12:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/22976\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T12:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:40:14","slug":"who-could-be-the-eus-new-envoy-in-cyprus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/22976\/","title":{"rendered":"Who could be the EU\u2019s new envoy in Cyprus?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A list of potential candidates to be the next EU envoy for the Cyprus problem<\/p>\n

As soon as Johannes Hahn left his post as the European Commission\u2019s envoy for the Cyprus problem, Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis was at pains to stress that processes were already underway for the commission to appoint a replacement. <\/p>\n

The commission,\u00a0Letymbiotis\u00a0said, is \u201calready taking the\u202fnecessary steps<\/a>\u202fwith the aim of appointing a new envoy \u2026 in the immediate future\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While no timeline has been given for when that replacement will be announced, statements made by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his envoy in Cyprus Maria Angela Holguin alluding to\u00a0hopes for earnest progress before the end of the year could push the commission into a prompt decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allegations over \u201cirregularities<\/a>\u201d\u00a0regarding\u00a0the sale of\u00a0\u20ac900 million worth of real estate\u00a0notwithstanding, there is no\u00a0indication\u00a0that European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen\u00a0was of the opinion that\u00a0Hahn was doing a \u201cbad\u201d job as envoy, though his role was limited.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For this reason,\u00a0it appears likely that she will look to a similar profile when she appoints his replacement.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hahn was, crucially, a former commissioner who had served under von der Leyen, and a member of the European People\u2019s Party (EPP), the European political grouping to which she and President Nikos Christodoulides both belong.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neither of those characteristics are prerequisites, but they would\u00a0likely be\u00a0indications that a candidate would, in von der Leyen\u2019s eyes, be trustworthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the matter of the party,\u00a0it remains to be seen whether the fact that Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan\u00a0Erhurman\u2019s\u00a0leanings will be\u00a0taken into account\u00a0going forward.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

His predecessor Ersin Tatar\u2019s opposition in principle to the idea of an EU envoy left him well and truly out of the conversation, but\u00a0Erhurman\u00a0held meetings with Hahn even before he was\u00a0elected\u00a0last\u00a0year and\u00a0may wish to be consulted.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Erhurman\u00a0is aligned with the Party of European Socialists, the centre-left grouping\u00a0which encompasses, among other parties, Germany\u2019s SPD, Greece\u2019s\u00a0Pasok, and Diko.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

With that in mind, here is a list of potential candidates to be the next EU envoy for the Cyprus problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0
Margrethe Vestager\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The 57-year-old former Danish prime minister served as a commissioner under both von der Leyen and her predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker, and\u00a0stepped in as the interim internal market commissioner following Thierry Breton\u2019s resignation following a public spat with von der Leyen in 2024, showing von der Leyen\u2019s trust in her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, her limited foreign affairs experience may count against her, as may the fact that some in Cyprus with long political memories may remember that it was she who had ordered Cyprus Airways to pay back\u00a0\u20ac65m in state aid in 2015, shortly after which the airline went bust.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Josep Borrell\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Appointing her former foreign affairs chief to the position of Cyprus problem envoy would show the island that von der Leyen, and by extension the EU, is taking the island\u2019s peace process seriously.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

At almost 79 years old, he may consider himself retired, but the frequency of Hahn\u2019s visits to Cyprus gave no impression that the role of EU envoy for the Cyprus problem is a full-time job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paolo Gentiloni\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another political heavyweight, 71-year-old Gentiloni had served as Italy\u2019s foreign minister and prime minister before spending five\u00a0year\u2019s\u00a0as von der Leyen\u2019s economy commissioner.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since leaving the commission, he has worked for the UN as part of an advisory board aimed at finding policy solutions to solve the world\u2019s debt crisis, and he is viewed by many in Italy as a skilled political mediator.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0
Didier Reynders\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reynders, 67, spent almost eight years in post as Belgium\u2019s foreign minister, before serving as justice commissioner in von der Leyen\u2019s first commission.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

His term as a commissioner allowed him regular contacts with Nicosia, given the EU\u2019s attempts to untangle Cyprus\u2019 citizenship-by-investment scheme, among other things.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0
Janez\u00a0Lenarcic\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lenarcic\u00a0is a career diplomat, having served in Slovenia\u2019s representation at the UN and as the country\u2019s ambassador to the Organisation for security and cooperation in Europe (OSCE), before later representing his country during Lisbon Treaty negotiations and playing a leading role when his country held the Council of the EU\u2019s rotating presidency in 2008.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He served as von der Leyen\u2019s crisis management commissioner for five years, overseeing the EU\u2019s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. At 58 years old, he is a spring chicken compared to some others on the list.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Angela Merkel\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Back in 2023, when the UN was mulling appointing its own envoy, Christodoulides and others had dropped hints that the former German chancellor may be the appointee.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, Holguin was selected, and\u00a0remains\u00a0in post to this day, though Christodoulides had also suggested at the time that Merkel may at some point be appointed as the EU\u2019s envoy. \u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen spent 14 years as a minister in Merkel\u2019s cabinet, serving as family minister, labour minister, and defence minister. Merkel is now 71 years old and has seldom been seen since leaving office, but, like the prospect of a Borrell appointment, naming her as envoy would be seen as proof that the EU is taking the Cyprus problem seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A list of potential candidates to be the next EU envoy for the Cyprus problem As soon as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[4474,16208,16209,9581,679,403],"class_list":{"0":"post-22976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ursula-von-der-leyen","8":"tag-cyprus-news","9":"tag-cyprus-problem","10":"tag-eu-envoy","11":"tag-european-union-eu","12":"tag-home","13":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116391786824236339","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}