President Costa to travel to Paris, Nicosia and the Middle East

Press material Monday, 05 January 2026

● European Council   05/01/2026 15:20 | Press release | President Costa to travel to Paris, Nicosia and the Middle East   The President of the European Council, António Costa, will travel to Paris on 6 January for the Coalition of the Willing meeting on Ukraine. He will then visit Nicosia on 7 January for the opening ceremony of the Cyprus’ presidency of the Council of the EU. On 8 and 9 January 2026, President Costa will be in Amman where, together with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, he will travel to the Middle East region. On 8 January, they will represent the EU at the first ever summit with Jordan in Amman. On 9 January, Presidents Costa and von der Leyen will travel to Syria and Lebanon. Meeting in Paris The leaders participating in the Coalition of the Willing will meet in Paris to take stock of ongoing talks to establish a framework for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, advance the contributions to security guarantees and to agree on next steps for further support. “The only way to bring Russia to the negotiation table is to strengthen Ukraine.” — António Costa, President of the European Council In December 2025, the European Council agreed to provide a €90 billion loan to Ukraine to cover their financial needs for the period 2026-2027. This loan would be repaid by Ukraine only once Russia compensates Ukraine for the damage caused by its war of aggression. European Council, 18 December 2025 Visit to Cyprus President Costa will give a speech at the opening ceremony of Cyprus’ presidency of the Council of the EU in Nicosia. “I look forward  to working closely together with Cyprus in the upcoming six months to build a more resilient and stronger Europe.” — António Costa, President of the European Council This is the second time that Cyprus assumes the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Their motto for the next six months will be “An autonomous Union – open to the world’. Cyprus will host an informal meeting of heads of state or government of the EU on 23 and 24 April 2026. The presidency of the Council rotates among the EU member states every six months. During this period, the presidency chairs meetings at every level in the Council, helping to ensure the continuity of the EU's work in the Council. The speech of President Costa will take place at around 5pm Brussels time and will be live-streamed on EBS. The presidency of the Council of the EU EU-Jordan summit On 8 January, Presidents Costa and von der Leyen will meet King Abdullah II for the first ever EU-Jordan summit. The summit will focus on bilateral relations and further deepening the political and economic partnership, as set out in the EU-Jordan Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership signed in January 2025. Leaders will also discuss the current global challenges, including the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine, security, trade and migration. “Jordan is a strategic partner for the European Union and plays a pivotal role in the Middle East. The EU deeply values Jordan’s leadership and its generosity in sheltering Syrian refugees for over a decade. Our first ever bilateral summit will provide a great opportunity to strengthen our partnership and tackle shared challenges in these turbulent times.” — António Costa, President of the European Council The summit will start at 12pm Brussels time. The opening remarks of the meeting will be live streamed on EBS. First ever EU-Jordan summit to take place on 8 January 2026 (Press release, 5 December 2025) EU-Jordan summit, 8 January 2026 Visits to Syria and Lebanon On 9 January, President António Costa and President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Damascus, Syria, where they will meet President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Later that day, they will meet the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, in Beirut.   Visit the website