Cyprus is building a strategic alliance network stretching from the Gulf to France, with President Nikos Christodoulides travelling to Paris today to sign a new agreement with Emmanuel Macron following the historic visit of the UAE president to Nicosia.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to Cyprus marked a historic milestone that highlighted the strategic depth in relations between the two countries, government sources said. The visit signalled a transition from strategic convergence to strategic implementation in bilateral ties.
Government circles in Nicosia told Phileleftheros that Cyprus is strengthening its international profile as a reliable partner ahead of its EU Council Presidency, one that can complete difficult missions and function as an institutional channel to Brussels, whilst converting relationships into tangible results.
For the UAE, the visit reinforces its push for a more active presence in the Eastern Mediterranean with an economic and investment focus through partnerships that offer stability, European added value and scalability, the sources said.
The UAE had made clear that such a visit would only take place once relations had reached a strategic point justifying it, government circles noted. The visit’s completion reflects that Cyprus-UAE relations now possess the required political capital, institutional weight and mutual trust to produce concrete deliverables and implementation timelines.
Relations between Cyprus and the UAE have been upgraded substantially from 2023 to the present through concrete and methodical work, according to government sources. The intensification of contacts at all levels, combined with the excellent personal relationship between the two countries’ leaders, proved catalytic in creating a level of trust that now enables practical partnership with concrete results.
In their joint declaration, the two presidents stressed that the visit “confirms the strategic partnership between Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates.” Both leaders noted with satisfaction the progress made in expanding bilateral cooperation in various sectors including trade, investments, energy, political dialogue, tourism, culture, defence, education, maritime transport and major infrastructure projects.
The two presidents welcomed the strong cooperation between their countries and agreed to develop a joint action plan that will further strengthen bilateral cooperation and support the implementation of new projects, under the supervision of Cyprus’s Foreign Minister and the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Cyprus and the UAE expressed their strong commitment to restarting efforts under UN auspices to achieve a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Cyprus problem, based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, according to the agreed UN framework and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Christodoulides travels to Paris today for an 11 am Cyprus time meeting with Macron at the Élysée Palace, according to a written statement from the government spokesman.
The visit comes at a time of heightened political and European responsibility for Cyprus, just days before the Republic assumes the EU Council Presidency on 1 January 2026, and forms part of Cyprus’s consistent strategic choice to strengthen substantive alliances with a European footprint and practical results during a period of intense geopolitical developments, the spokesman said.
The two leaders will discuss Cyprus’s EU Council Presidency priorities for the first half of 2026, as well as significant international and regional issues, within the framework of common European positions and the need to maintain the Union’s unity and resilience.
The central significance of the visit is the signing of a Strategic Partnership Agreement between Cyprus and France, which aims to strengthen and structure bilateral relations and upgrade them institutionally with a concrete cooperation framework, particularly in defence, economy, cultural cooperation, innovation and education, as well as enhanced coordination on European and international issues, according to the spokesman.
The agreement reflects both countries’ shared will to move from strategic convergence to strategic implementation through a more structured, operational and targeted cooperation framework that strengthens Cyprus’s role as a reliable partner in the European Union and as a pillar of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly on security issues, energy resilience and European cohesion.