Nicosia: Cyprus' Finance Minister Makis Keravnos spoke of 'two excellent candidacies' for the presidency of the Eurogroup ahead of Thursday's meeting, which he is chairing. By the end of the meeting, the new President of the Finance Ministers of the 20 eurozone member states is expected to be elected, in a race between Belgium's Vincent Van Peteghem and Greece's Kyriakos Pierrakakis.
According to Cyprus News Agency, upon his arrival, Minister Keravnos told reporters that he would be chairing the session and referred to the election. 'On the agenda we have the very important issue of the elections for the next president of the Eurogroup. We have two excellent candidates, one from Belgium and one from Greece' he said.
He added that the agenda also includes 'a discussion on the IMF interim report and, of course, as every December, we will discuss the draft budget for 2026.' Keravnos noted that 'the final item is the start of the process for appointing the ECB Vice President,' without revealing which candidate Cyprus will support.
Of the two candidates, only Van Peteghem commented that the situation regarding the frozen Russian assets could affect his candidacy, though he estimated that 'we are close to an agreement' on the issue.
As for the positions of other eurozone ministers, Germany's Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, arriving at the Eurogroup meeting that will determine the next president, openly backed the Greek candidate. 'In personal discussions with my Greek and Belgian counterparts, I made clear that as the German Finance Minister I will vote for my Greek colleague, in coordination with the Chancellor's office, and we all hope that the new Eurogroup President will be elected today' he noted.
Ireland's Finance Minister, Simon Harris, said he was pleased that both candidates came from the European People's Party, without expressing a preference.
The Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen also referred to both as strong candidates, stressing that he expects to hear their positions on the future of the eurozone, as 'the Eurogroup will be called upon to make critical decisions.'