Luxembourg PM to pay official visit

Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel is paying Cyprus an official visit on Thursday May 5. Ukraine, energy, migration crisis and Cyprus issue will be on the agenda of the talks.

The head of President Anastasiades’ press office Andreas Iosif said in a written statement that the two men will discuss ways to end the aggression in Ukraine and issues related to EU’s energy sufficiency as well as the migration crisis and ways to enhance the cooperation between small EU member states.

Iosif said that Cyprus and Luxembourg have excellent relations and during the meeting Anastasiades and Bettel will examine ways to further enhance the bilateral cooperation.

The President will brief the Prime Minister on the Cyprus peace negotiations and the efforts to resume them, as well as about the Confidence Building Measures that he put on the table to this end.  President Anastasiades is expected to underline the need for the EU to play a more vital role in the peace talks and will note also the need for Turkey to show a constructive stance and to terminate the violation of Cyprus’ sovereign rights.

The President and the Prime Minister are expected to make statements to the press at 1130 local time.

Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. The latest round of peace talks under the UN aegis took place in the summer of 2017 in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana and ended inconclusively.