Foreign Minister on working visit to Lisbon

Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides on Wednesday will discuss Cyprus developments, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and bilateral relations with Portugal, during a rare working visit to Lisbon.

The Foreign Ministry said that Christodoulides is in Lisbon to mark Portugal’s six-month Presidency of the EU Council.

During his visit, Christodoulides will have initially a tête-à-tête with his Portuguese counterpart, Augusto Santos Silva, to be followed by extensive consultations with their respective delegations.

Discussions will focus on bilateral relations and ways to deepen them further and Cyprus talks, in light of the ongoing initiative of the UN Secretary-General to resume negotiations.

Other important topics on the EU agenda are the pandemic, Eastern Mediterranean and EU-Turkey relations, cooperation in the framework of Med7 and the Southern Neighbourhood, migration and Portugal’s EU Presidency priorities.

Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, and Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar both support the UN Secretary-General’s commitment to exploring the possibility of convening an informal five-plus-United Nations meeting, also involving Greece, the UK and Turkey.