According to local media, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides discussed Kadis’s nomination with Von der Leyen in a telephone conversation last week.

A government spokesperson highlighted in a statement on Monday the candidate’s experience, his skills and his academic training as key elements for his nomination.

Kadis, 56, held several ministerial portfolios: after being Minister of Health from July 2007 to February 2008, he served as head of the Ministry of Education and Culture from 2014 to 2018 and minister of Agriculture from 2018 to 2023.

If his nomination is approved, the trained biologist will replace European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Stella Kyriakides, who confirmed in July that she would not run for a second term.

After leaving the government in 2023, Kadis became dean of the school of health policy at the private University of Frederick, Cyprus.

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