Hahn’s appointment “underlines the Commission’s commitment to the reunification of Cyprus, with the aim of ensuring a functional and viable comprehensive settlement in accordance with the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and in line with the principles, values and legislation of the EU,” the Commission’s statement said.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides welcomed Hahn’s designation, noting that it constitutes “tangible proof that the EU stands firmly and resolutely with Cyprus and its people.”
Multiple attempts to find a compromise settlement over the years have failed, most recently in 2017 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, and formal talks have not resumed since then. This is the longest period that has passed without official dialogue.
An informal meeting was convened by the U.N. secretary-general in Geneva in March and another one is scheduled at the end of July.
Hahn spent 14 years as a European commissioner between 2010 and last year, overseeing first regional policy, then European neighborhood policy and enlargement talks, and finally budget and administration. He is a member of Austria’s center-right People’s Party, which belongs to the conservative European People’s Party, the same European grouping as Christodoulides.
