Congratulations were offered on Wednesday night and Thursday to the new European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis.
Kadis, a Cypriot who held various ministerial roles on the island, received 26 votes in his favour and six against during his hearing at the European Parliament’s fisheries and oceans committee on Wednesday, and will a such accede to the role in the coming weeks.
Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides was among the first to congratulate him, saying he looks forward “to working closely with Kadis in view of Cyprus taking over the European Council’s rotating presidency in the first half of 26”.
This cooperation, he said, will be carried out “with the aim of building a resilient, competitive, and sustainable fisheries sector, strengthening the blue economy and addressing the challenges ahead”.
Despite the fact that European commissioners ostensibly have no links to their home country once they become commissioners, working solely on behalf of the commission, Christodoulides linked the role to Cyprus, as many EU leaders now do when speaking of commissioners who share their nationality.
“Cyprus undertakes an upgraded portfolio of critical importance to the European economy, to promote the green transition and the sustainable management of maritime resources,” he said.
Kadis also won the congratulations of outgoing European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, who was nominated by the Cypriot government of the day in 2019. She said she wished him “every success in his new role”.
Additionally, the European People’s Party, the European political grouping to which Christodoulides, Disy, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen all belong, offered their congratulations to him.
Cypriot Member of the European Parliament Fidias Panayiotou was also present at the hearing, posting a video to his social media shortly after it concluded.
In the video, he asked fellow Cypriot MEP Loucas Fourlas, of Disy, how he thought the hearing was going, and Fourlas replied, “our commissioner is doing really well”. Panayiotou then said, “I think he did well”.
