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Articles by Cleopatra Kitti
A New Security Paradigm and What It Asks of Boards and Leaders
Opinions All Articles 19.10.2026 07:00 Opinions Cleopatra Kitti Share Europe Faces the Risk of a Broader Crisis Metron Analysis Poll Reveals What Life in Athens Is Really Like Giannis Balabanidis The Race After the Pnyx Dimitra Kroustalli Ancient Greek Paradoxes Periklis Dimitrolopoulos 19.10.2026 07:00 Opinions Cleopatra Kitti Share When alliances become transactional, the assumptions behind a strategy can change quickly Μake us preferred on Google For three decades, many boards could treat...
Who Chairs the State?
Opinions All Articles 21.09.2026 09:30 Opinions Cleopatra Kitti Share The Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU: Can Greece showcase European leadership? The U.S. Midterm Elections Saga From Strasbourg, Latinopoulou’s Viral Tirade Plays to Athens Cheryl Novak Will You Need a Bag? 21.09.2026 09:30 Opinions Cleopatra Kitti Share What corporate governance reveals about the missing checks in political leadership Μake us preferred on Google We debate corporate governance with real precision now.
Leadership Without Margin
Μake us preferred on Google Every leader operates with a margin. It is the room to absorb a bad quarter, a hostile headline, a supply shock, an election that goes the wrong way. For most of the past two decades, that margin was wide. Leadership in politics and in business could afford to look confident without being precise. That margin has narrowed sharply. The narrowing is structural, not a passing cycle. Two industries, on the surface unrelated, show the shift with unusual clarity.
European Corporate World’s ‘Med Blind Spot’
Europe still treats the Mediterranean through a post-colonial lens—a neighborhood to be managed rather than a market to be integrated Μake us preferred on Google Ask any board director to locate the Mediterranean on their strategic map and you will find it stranded between categories—too Southern for Europe, too Northern for Africa, too Western for the Gulf. This categorical failure is costing companies real money and compounding geopolitical risk in ways boards are not yet registering.
tovima.com - Breaking News, Analysis and Opinion from To Vima’s International Edition
Μake us preferred on Google We are living through a peculiar moment in corporate governance: boards are simultaneously being urged to “think bigger” while navigating the most fractured geopolitical and economic landscape in generations. Markets reward audacity, until suddenly, they don’t. And when the music stops, it isn’t the activist investors or algorithmic traders who bear the full weight of failure.
tovima.com - Breaking News, Analysis and Opinion from To Vima’s International Edition
Μake us preferred on Google European boards face a paradox that traditional financial analysis cannot solve: Why is access to credit tightening even as central banks ease monetary policy? The answer lies not in balance sheets, but on geopolitical maps. The European Central Bank’s Bank Lending Survey (BLS) series reveals a striking and sustained divergence. From 2023 to 2025, euro area banks have progressively tightened credit standards for corporate loans, even during periods of interest rate cuts.
tovima.com - Breaking News, Analysis and Opinion from To Vima’s International Edition
Peace is not the end of disruption. It is where the real competition begins. Peace is often misread as a pause. A return to normal. A collective exhale. It is neither. Peace is not defined by the absence of conflict, but by whether the conditions that caused it have been transformed. The next day after conflict is not a return. It is a reallocation of power, capital, and relevance. Those who understand it early, shape peace. Leadership is being redefined, fragmenting globally and consolidating regionally.
The Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU : An Assessment in a Time of Geopolitical Turmoil
Cleopatra Kitti, Senior Policy Advisor to ELIAMEP and Founder of the Mediterranean Growth Initiative, offers a review of Cyprus’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which concluded a few days ago.
How Politics Impacts Our Pockets, Savings, and Pensions
Back in the 1990s, I was a young, aspiring professional who wanted to do both small and big things. Things with impact and significance. I left a steady but boring job to start my own consulting business. Little did I know that Washington was preparing for a Gulf war, one that would upend theEastern Mediterranean and destabilise the very environment in which I was planning to operate in. Had I known, I might have delayed that decision.
How is Washington Rewriting the Eastern Mediterranean Power Game
The Eastern Mediterranean is entering a new phase of competition where legal claims, deterrence and sovereignty remain central, but they are increasingly prosecuted through capital allocation, infrastructure design and transactional politics. The rules of this game are not being renegotiated; they are being repriced.
Op-ed: What the EU can learn from Cyprus' foreign policy
From migration to regional co-operation with the Middle East and North Africa, Cyprus combines human-rights principles with pragmatic diplomacy. Kaja Kallas, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, and Constantinos Kombos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, at the European Council building in Brussels, November 2025.
Op-ed: Cyprus' opportunity to reinvigorate European dialogue and revive multilateralism
During its presidency of the Council of the EU, Cyprus has two key opportunities — carrying forward negotiations on the next MFF and elevating the EU's diplomatic relations with its neighbours in the Middle East and North Africa. Cleopatra Kitti is an adviser to international organisations and governments and senior policy adviser at ELIAMEP. Cyprus occupies a unique place on Europe's map. Geographically, it sits at the intersection of three continents — Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
January. Tame Your Budget, Mind and Waistline
January has a reputation and a feeling. Blue and overblown. The festive mood of December is gone and the weather is moody and our bank accounts and our waistlines are overblown.January is when taxes are due, insurance bills to pay, overdraft to be repaid, and adiet promised to lose the extra kilos. A combination for the strong willed. And if that is not enough, the temptations to spend more money pursue our tempted mind.
December Money Magic
And here we are. Another end of year magic. The month of constant spending sprees. The month of never-ending balancing between spending, partying, hosting and gifting coupled with a long list of dues – taxes of sorts, new year school fees, credit card balances, and the list is long. December can also stand for many other things if you choose to do so. I certainly find December a month of self-deliberation (to the point of morale self- beating) to pick up the new year from there.
Know Thy Data to Know Thyself
It is possible that your bank or financial app knows more about you than you know about yourself. Why? Because it tracks your every move. Everywhere you spend money. Everywhere you travel. It tracks your habits. What time you made a purchase. What time you went where. It also designs your profile. Are you a saver or a spender? Are you an investor? And if you are – are you risk prone, or risk averse? How intentional are you in your habits? Do you know yourself as well as your fin app does?
Why chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the world’s ‘forgotten disease’, must be a priority in the next EU budget
As negotiations intensify over the European Union’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), policymakers are being urged to recognise that respiratory health, and in particular chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is a fundamental test of Europe’s economic resilience, workforce readiness, and long-term competitiveness MEP Aurelijus Veryga, WHO's José Luis Castro and Dr. Didier Cataldo reiterated the need to give chronic respiratory diseases the same level of strategic attention...
A New Age of Financial Resilience for Families, Firms, and States
Rising geopolitical tension, rapid technological change, and a remapping of global trade, have brought financial resilience to front and center as the defining challenge for businesses, governments, and households alike. Across my recent work, research and discussions with business leaders, academics,and policymakers, one conclusion stands out: we are no longer living in a “normal”economic environment, and traditional approaches to managing risk are no longerenough.
The Power of “No”: Why Saying “No” Is the New Luxury
We’re taught to say yes. Yes to opportunities. Yes to experiences. Yes to treating ourselves, all with one thought in mind. That “life is short”. But here is the unglamorous truth that Eastern philosophy, Stoic thinking and Western behavioural psychology strangely agree on, the word “no” is the most powerful freedom tool we have. Not the “yes”, but the “no”. No is a boundary, a strategy and a financial self-defense.
The System Is Rigged Until You Learn the Rules
The financial system wasn’t built for ordinary people. It was built around and about them to extract value from their work, savings, and spending. The rules of money have long favored the markets, the banks, and the financial services providers. They win whether prices rise or fall. They earn fees, interest, and margins while most people struggle to keep up. But here’s the truth they don’t tell you: you can’t beat the system by ignoring it. You beat it by understanding it. Take Mara, for example.
Cash Flow Is Queen and Your Shield in Uncertain Times
Athena was mid-career change when she had to navigate a bigger mind shift: She was asset rich, but cash poor. To be in control of her life, make decisions to redirect her wellbeing, she needed to be cash rich. “It took me a year to get my cash flow in a place where I felt confident about my finances. It was a must-do exercise to have flexibility and choice to get my house in order.
Euromed Mirror: Cyprus’ EU Presidency in a Shifting World Order
As Cyprus assumes its second Presidency of the European Union, it steps into a role defined by crisis and change. The contrast with its first Presidency (2012) could not be sharper. Then, multilateralism prevailed; collaboration was possible, and conflict manageable. Today, multilateralism is under siege, conflicts dominate, and Europe faces existential challenges: its Union and Security, its Internal and Capital Markets, its Competitiveness, its Freedom and Values.
Online discussion: “India-Europe corridor - a necessity for the Mediterranean - Can it survive the Middle East conflict?”
At the most recent G20 summit a new economic and infrastructure interconnectivity was announced to connect India to Europe through the Arabian Gulf, Israel, and Greece. This corridor is supported by the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, and the EU. Will the project retain its momentum, given the re-emerging conflict in the Middle East? Could the whole project to be derailed by the long-term ramifications of the conflict as trust might erode among the indispensable partners?
Spain’s EU Presidency must embrace the Med | eKathimerini.com
Spain takes over the helm of the rotating European Union Council Presidency on June 1. As a member of the EU since 1986, this is Spain’s fifth EU Presidency. Spain is a Mediterranean country with interests and values embedded in Europe.
Cyprus’ new political moment
On March 1st 2023, Cyprus’ new President Nikos Christodoulides, takes office. Join us for a discussion on the significance of this election and its likely implication for Cyprus’ future. What geopolitical and domestic socioeconomic developments would determine the incoming President’s agenda?
[Opinion] Lebanon: Time for a regional EU strategy
The tragedy in Lebanon must spark a deeper European Union rethink of its engagement in the Mediterranean. The focus at the moment is - quite correctly - on urgent assistance to help the people of Lebanon. The EU is also right to highlight the need for structural reforms and anti-corruption measures in the country. But more, much more, is needed – and not just in Lebanon.
Lebanon: Time for a regional EU strategy
The tragedy in Lebanon must spark a deeper European Union rethink of its engagement in the Mediterranean. The focus at the moment is - quite correctly - on urgent assistance to help the people of Lebanon. The EU is also right to highlight the need for structural reforms and anti-corruption measures in the country. But more, much more, is needed – and not just in Lebanon.
The Future of Conflict
The Flare of the Med By Cleopatra Kitti, founder of the Mediterranean Growth Initiative The Mediterranean is the cradle of civilization. Today, a rich maritime history, culture and economy are being threatened by the tentacles of deadly conflict spreading across the region. Redrawn borders, proxy fighters, political and economic inequality, instability and corruption, are at the root of uprisings, wars, protests, and forced migration.
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