Cypriot President leaves for working visit to Greece

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias leaves on Tuesday for a working visit to Greece, during which he will hold meetings with his Greek counterpart Carolos Papoulias, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and leaders of Greek political parties.

Christofias will arrive in Athens on Tuesday afternoon. In the evening he will attend a dinner hosted in his honour by his Greek counterpart at the Presidential Palace.

On Wednesday morning Christofias will lay a wreath at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier.

Later he will visit the Hellenic Parliament, where he will have a meeting with the parliament’s President Demetris Sioufas.

After an interview with the TV of the Hellenic Parliament, Christofias will go to the Presidential Palace where he will have a meeting with Papoulias.

Following the meeting with Papoulias, he will hold talks with the Greek Prime Minister at Megaro Maximou and make statements to the press. Christofias will then attend a lunch hosted by the Greek Prime Minister.

In the afternoon he will have a meeting at his hotel with Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) President George Papandreou. He will also have a meeting with the General Secretary of the Greek Communist Party Aleca Papariga. Later he will have a meeting with the leader of the Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (SYN) party Alexis Tsipras and the parliamentary leader of the wider Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) Alekos Alavanos.

He will also have a meeting with the Federation of Cypriot Organisations in Greece.

On Thursday morning, President Christofias will meet with President of the Popular Orthodox Rally party George Karatzaferis.

Later he will give a press conference at the Union of Foreign Press Correspondents, followed by a visit to the residence of Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis.

Christofias will leave Athens to return to Cyprus later in the afternoon.