By Penelope Galliou

The thread of the discussions and developments in the Cyprus issue will be picked up again today Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Christodoulidis during the Intergovernmental Summit of Greece – Cyprus, which takes place in Megalonis and is chaired by the Greek Prime Minister and the President of the Republic of Cyprus. At the Summit, the two leaders are expected to send a common and resounding message about the need to resolve the Cyprus issue always within the framework of the decisions of the UN Security Council and all developments on the matter are expected to be discussed, following the mobility at the level of the Secretary General of UN and the informal dinner of Mr. Christodoulidis and Mr. Tatar under the Secretary General of the UN last October in New York, while Kyriakos Mitsotakis, according to government sources sources, he is expected to repeat Greece’s constant position that “a solution to the Cyprus problem can only be based on the framework of the UN and the decisions of the Security Council”.

This is the second Intergovernmental Summit of Greece-Cyprus, after the corresponding one held last November in Athens, following the agreement on its institutionalization by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Christodoulidis in July 2023, and marks the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries, as well as its deepening and expansion in a number of areas, beyond foreign policy, where cooperation and coordination between Athens and Nicosia is permanent. At the center of the discussions of the competent Ministers accompanying Kyriakos Mitsotakis with their Cypriot counterparts, it is expected that a series of critical sectors concerning the bilateral cooperation of the two countries will be discussed, concerning defense, energy, the environment, health, education, Culture, Digital Policy, Research-innovation-technology, Labor and Social Security, the State Law, Justice, Economy, social policy, and Shipping.

On the Greek side, the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Education, Digital Governance, Social Cohesion and Family, Culture, Maritime and Island Policy, State, and the Deputy Ministers of Defence, Environment and Energy, Health, Development, Labor and Justice are participating.

The Tripartite Summit of Greece-Cyprus-Jordan

Immediately after the second Intergovernmental Conference of Greece-Cyprus, the Tripartite Summit of Greece-Cyprus-Jordan will follow. A meeting that will be held at a critical juncture for developments in the Middle East, especially after Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in which he announced last night that Israel is proceeding with a ceasefire in Lebanon, clarifying however that the duration of the truce depends of what is happening in the country. According to government sources, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Nikos Christodoulidis and King Abdullah of Jordan are expected to send a message about the need for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East and about the importance of tripartite cooperation for stability in the wider region. Besides, King Abdullah of Jordan had also participated in the MED9 Summit last October in Paphos, during which the participating leaders had called for an “immediate ceasefire across the Blue Line and the timely provision of humanitarian aid to Lebanon.” “We regret the many civilian casualties, the destruction of political infrastructure, the large number of internally displaced persons and we call on all actors to respect International Law and International Humanitarian Law in any case” they said, among other things, in the Declaration of the 11th MED9 Summit, in Paphos.