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European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides has confirmed she won’t run again for the top health job in the next term and intends to return to Cyprus.
Kyriakides was one of the names being discussed in the Brussels bubble for the health job again, as the potential Cypriot commissioner candidate. But she told Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Cyprus’ president, Nikos Christodoulides, that she wouldn’t run again.
“Through the honorable position of EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, my aim was to give my best, making every effort throughout this journey to serve both my fellow European citizens and my homeland in the best possible way,” she told local media in Cyprus.
During her mandate, Kyriakides launched a European cancer plan and proposed an overhaul of the rules of the bloc’s pharmaceutical legislation. But her term was largely overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a cascade of legislation to beef up Europe’s disease surveillance and pandemic preparedness.
In public health, her unit faced criticism from some NGOs for delaying new rules on smoking, which have still not landed.
Kyriakides’ return to Cyprus ups the chances for two others — if they can leap some significant hurdles first: Malta’s former Health Minister Chris Fearne and Belgium’s Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke.
Fearne was Malta’s pick for the next Commission but handed back his nomination after he was charged with fraud in connection with a hospital contract scandal — allegations he has denied.
Earlier this week Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela announced he still hopes to nominate Fearne if he can clear his name in court within two weeks.
Vandenbroucke meanwhile has support from many within the health community but his chances depend on the machinations within the new Belgian government following the national election last month.
Kyriakides, a psychologist and politician, will now determine her next steps “in the political arena,” in Cyprus.
