Steinmeier in Cyprus next week, to visit migrant camp

Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier will visit Cyprus next week, the first by a Federal President, for official talks with the island’s government and to meet with several community groups, as well as visit a migrant camp.

The German president, half-way through his second term, will arrive late on Sunday, February 11, and on Monday morning, he will be welcomed at the Presidential Palace by Nikos Christodoulides.

The two presidents will exchange awards, followed by a private meeting and then extended talks between the delegations of the two countries. At the end of the official meetings, they will make statements to the media.

They will then head to the Nicosia Town Hall and go on a walk-about in the old town and along the green line dividing the Republic from the Turkish-occupied territories. This will be followed by a lunch hosted by the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce KEBE.

In the afternoon, President Steinmeier will visit the Anthropological Laboratory of the Committee of Missing Persons and will hold a short meeting with UNFICYP peacekeepers.

Later he will visit the House of Europe and the Goethe Institute. He will also go to the House of Representatives, where he will be welcomed  and have a meeting with Speaker Annita Demetriou.

In the evening, the President of Germany will attend an official dinner hosted in his honor by President Christodoulides, at the Presidential Palace.

On Tuesday, February 13, President Steinmeier will visit Makarios III High School in Plati Aglantzias, where he will talk with students and then he will go to the Migrant Reception Centre in Kofinou, where he will be briefed by the Minister of the Interior.

Afterwards, he will visit the scenic village of Lefkara for a walk about and see how they make hand-made lace. This will be followed by a lunch of the two presidents in the village of Kato Drys, before President Steinmeier leaves for Germany.