Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis’ meetings with the political and state leadership of the Republic of Cyprus (Cyprus, 27.10.2021)

Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis had consecutive meetings today with the political and state leadership of Cyprus, in the context of his official two-day visit to the Republic of Cyprus.

Specifically, Mr. Varvitsiotis met with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, His Beatitude Archbishop of New Justinian and All Cyprus, Chrysostomos II, and the President of the House of Representatives, Ms. Annita Demetriou.

During his meeting with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Anastasiades, the Alternate Minister expressed the support of Greece in Cyprus and reiterated that the two countries go hand in hand on national issues and stand together in the face of common challenges. “Greece stands by Cyprus, actively supporting efforts to find a viable and just solution to the Cyprus issue in the framework of UN Security Council Resolutions and European Council decisions”, he characteristically stated. Turkish provocations in the Southeastern Mediterranean, pandemic management and energy issues were also at the focus of their discussion.

At the start of his meeting with His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II, Mr. Varvitsiotis made special mention of the particular weight and difficulty of the day, which is a day of National Mourning in Greece for the funeral of Fofi Gennimata. “We are paying our last respects to Fofi, President of KINAL, leader and good friend, but also my peer, at least in Parliament. We were both elected in Parliament in 2000. Her loss and the battle she fought with cancer stirred the emotions of the Greek people”, he stressed. Respectively, he expressed the belief that His Beatitude, who has also been battling cancer for the last three years, will win this battle as well.

Then, in the context of his meeting with the President of the House of Representatives, Ms. Annita Demetriou, the Alternate Minister stressed the importance of parliamentary diplomacy and the coordination of the national parliaments of the two countries to achieve common goals. “I consider parliamentary diplomacy, which I have served for a long time, to be one of the most dynamically evolving aspects of diplomacy at political level and perhaps it is what brings us much closer to the other member states within the European Union,” he said.

It is recalled that in the afternoon the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs will meet with the Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, with whom he will participate in a public discussion at the Cyprus University of Technology on “The Dialogue for the Future of Europe and the Role of Youth: Regional Dimensions, Challenges and Prospects”.