Press Releases

It gives me great pleasure to welcome to Cyprus my good friend and distinguished colleague, Ine Eriksen Søreide, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway.

I am particularly grateful to Ιne for giving me the opportunity so soon to reciprocate the warm hospitality afforded to me during my visit to Oslo last November. This is in fact the third time we meet and hold open substantial talks in the past six months, elevating the bilateral relations and cooperation between our countries to unprecedented levels. 

Today, we had the opportunity to continue to drive forward our discussions, as well as to review and follow up on some of the concrete results from those discussions. We touched upon a broad array of issues, ranging from bilateral cooperation in fields including human rights ― with a particular focus on promoting women’s and girls’ rights ― energy and tourism, to issues that are of European, regional and international interest, as well as on our cooperation within the framework of multilateral organisations.

Our discussions reaffirmed what we already knew; that Cyprus and Norway share common values, principles and aspirations in a large number of fields, such as in human rights, International and International Humanitarian Law and climate change, as well as an unwavering commitment to multilateralism.

In the course of these discussions, we exchanged views on the excellent relations between the EU and Norway, as well as on a number of regional issues which are of concern to us both. We addressed in particular the current state of affairs in Syria and in Libya, which are deeply concerning, and we exchanged views on the Middle East Peace Process, in light of recent developments.

Within the context of our deliberations in relation to the Easter Mediterranean and the broader Middle East, I had the opportunity to brief Ine on the progress of a series of regional cooperation initiatives that Cyprus has undertaken with our neighboring countries, which are inclusive and founded on a positive agenda. I explained our aspiration that these initiatives, which are designed to foster synergies and enhance dialogue and understanding, will serve to strengthen the prospects of peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

As you might expect, I also briefed the Minister on the latest developments with regard to Turkey’s escalating provocations in the greater Middle East region, with particular reference to the latest illegal drilling that is being carried out by Ankara, in the southern part of Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone, which constitute yet another violation of international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas and are contrary to calls from the international community, including by the EU, to refrain from such actions.

As I have explained to Ine, these actions by Turkey are regrettably also detrimental to the efforts of the UN Secretary General to create an environment that is conducive to the resumption of negotiations aimed at achieving a settlement to the Cyprus problem that will reunify the island on the basis of a bi-zonal bi-communal federation, in line with relevant Security Council resolutions and the principles upon which the EU is founded.

Dear Ine,

Before giving you the floor, I would like to thank you warmly for your visit to Cyprus. I am particularly delighted, that you have also accepted our invitation to be one of the keynote speakers at a very special event that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing later in the day, on “Women in Diplomacy”. The event falls within the scope of our concerted efforts to introduce a gender perspective into all policy areas of the Cyprus Foreign Service, an area where Norway is a global frontrunner and in which we stand to gain a lot from our cooperation. I very much look forward to listening to you later at the event.

I am confident that your visit will lend further momentum to our growing bilateral partnership.

(EK/SCH)