Cyprus is opening new embassies

Cyprus is set to reopen its High Commission in Kenya and its embassy in Indonesia in 2023, while plans are also being drawn up for inaugurating embassies in Argentina and Bahrain.

According to foreign ministry spokesperson Theodoros Gotsis, Cyprus’ High Commission in Kenya’s capital Nairobi already partially reopened last month.

He further hailed the planned opening of the embassy in Bahrain, the only country of the Arab Gulf in which Cyprus does not yet have a diplomatic mission.

Regarding the High Commission in Kenya, that reopened under diplomat Savvas Vladimirou, Gotsis said that, aside from its key role in developing the historical bilateral relations between the two countries, it is worth noting that Nairobi is the seat of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN’s central regional office in the African continent.

Moreover, he said that the Orthodox Church of Kenya is headquartered in the capital and headed by the Cypriot Archbishop of Nairobi and Exarch of All Kenya Makarios Tillyrides.

Cyprus has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the “Sophia for Children” foundation for the financial support of its orphanage in the city.

As far as the embassy in Jakarta is concerned, Gotsis said it is particularly significant as Indonesia is the most populous Islamic country in the world and plays a vital role in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

He also noted that opening an embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, will help Cyprus establish a stronger presence in South America.

“The opening and reopening of diplomatic missions of the Republic of Cyprus abroad is the result of the foreign ministry’s successful work over the years,” Gotsis said, adding that 50 new posts were approved by the ministry covering the period spanning from 2021 to 2025.

“Thanks to this, we expect that the number of the diplomats will be restored to the levels that we had before the 2008 economic crisis,” Gotsis said.