{"id":11037,"date":"2026-07-20T11:42:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T08:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=11037"},"modified":"2026-07-20T11:42:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T08:42:32","slug":"cyprus-president-set-to-shake-up-cabinet-with-key-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/cyprus-president-set-to-shake-up-cabinet-with-key-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyprus President Set to Shake Up Cabinet With Key Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to <em>in-cyprus (Philenews)<\/em>, the announcement has been slightly delayed as government attention turns to next Monday&#8217;s visit by UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres concerning the Cyprus problem. However, multiple sources confirm that <strong>Christodoulides<\/strong> will most likely move forward with the reshuffle this week.<\/p>\n<p>The reorganisation is designed to give the government clearer political direction and to establish the ideological identity of Christodoulides&#8217; platform as he positions himself for re-election. The changes will maintain the internal balance of power within the administration while ensuring the Council of Ministers reflects the full spectrum of the President&#8217;s support base.<\/p>\n<h2>Strategic Timing Ahead of UN Talks<\/h2>\n<p>The President wants the reshuffle completed before negotiations on the Cyprus problem intensify following Guterres&#8217; visit. While some reports had suggested an announcement as early as this week&#8217;s opening days, Christodoulides appears to be allowing himself additional time to finalise the arrangements.<\/p>\n<p>The reshuffle comes after a series of three meetings between the President and the DIKO party Secretariat. During their most recent session last week, the party&#8217;s leadership secured commitments for strengthened representation across government appointments, including positions in semi-state organisations.<\/p>\n<p>Christodoulides made clear that <strong>Makis Keravnos<\/strong> will remain at the Finance Ministry and <strong>Konstantinos Ioannou<\/strong> at the Interior Ministry. A private meeting between Christodoulides and <strong>Nicolas Papadopoulos<\/strong> took place Friday away from public attention, as <em>in-cyprus (Philenews)<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n<h2>Confirmed and Anticipated Changes<\/h2>\n<p>The only confirmed departure is Agriculture Minister <strong>Maria Panayiotou<\/strong>, whose exit was officially announced by the government Friday. The Agriculture Ministry is expected to go to DIKO, with reports suggesting <strong>Christos Senekis<\/strong> as a potential appointment, though no formal approach has been made to the former MP.<\/p>\n<p>A change is also anticipated at the Deputy Ministry of Culture, despite <strong>Lina Kasianidou<\/strong> denying reports that she informed the President of her intention to resign. Other names circulating include Transport Minister <strong>Alexis Vafeiades<\/strong> and Deputy Minister of Tourism <strong>Costas Koumis<\/strong>, though the President has kept his intentions closely guarded.<\/p>\n<p>A new director is expected to be appointed to the Presidential Office, a position vacant since the resignation of <strong>Charalambos Charalambous<\/strong>. Commissioner for Administration <strong>Panayiotis Palates<\/strong> has been mentioned as a candidate, alongside <strong>Elena Kousiou<\/strong>, who was also approached for the role.<\/p>\n<h2>The Question of Raouna&#8217;s Future<\/h2>\n<p>Significant uncertainty surrounds <strong>Marilena Raouna<\/strong>, whose term as Deputy Minister of European Affairs expires at the end of the month after parliament rejected an extension. As one of Christodoulides&#8217; closest associates, her continued involvement in government in some capacity is widely considered certain.<\/p>\n<p>The DIKO Secretariat is expected to submit formal proposals following internal consultations scheduled for tomorrow or Wednesday. The party&#8217;s leadership addressed past grievances concerning appointments made without prior consultation, securing assurances of meaningful input going forward.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em>With information from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.philenews.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in-cyprus (Philenews)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides will announce a cabinet reshuffle this week to shift governance centre-right before the 2028 election, following UN Secretary-General Guterres&#8217; Cyprus visit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":11036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[4064,9584,9585,213,9167,9586],"nfg_topic":[134],"class_list":["post-11037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-antonio-guterres","tag-cabinet-reshuffle","tag-centre-right-governance","tag-cyprus","tag-nikos-christodoulides","tag-un-cyprus-talks","nfg_topic-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11038,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11037\/revisions\/11038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11037"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=11037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}