"We have the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first half of 2026. There is a set of priorities for each country that is charing that council,"  Kombos said. "One of our priorities is an emphasis being on the Middle East, and that is something we will put into place in that we intend to make the region one of our priorities. Through that lens, we could be advancing initiatives on how we could deepen relations with the Gulf countries and of course with all the parties in the Middle East. In addition to that, we are also focused on the security dimension of the European Union in terms of defense and so on. So, we understand there are various propositions from the US in terms of budget commitments and so forth, so we are willing to push for that for a very simple reason: because we are not a member of NATO. We are one of the four EU member states that is not a member of NATO, not because of our unwillingness to be or not, but because of Turkey. So, the better the security arrangements are with the US, the better it is for Cyprus security as well. So, there is a bridge in our relation to that because we are willing to advocate for it."