Christodoulides in first visit of president to Palestine in eight years (Update 2)

President Nikos Christodoulides on Wednesday travelled to Ramallah, Palestine, where he met with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and agreed to a trilateral summit with Greece.

According to an official announcement Christodoulides went to Ramallah from Jordan, where he is on an official visit, in the morning, in the first visit of a Cyprus president to Palestine since 2015.

“We welcome you as a beloved visitor to Palestine, your visit is an important opportunity to enhance the relations of friendship and mutual cooperation between our two countries and friendly people in various sectors, such as trade and tourism as well as various aspects of economic cooperation,” Abbas said.

“We also appreciate Cyprus’ effective political role within the EU which we hope will continue to support the Palestinian state for its full integration into the UN, as well as its recognition by most European countries in the context of the last opportunity for a two-state solution based on international law,” the Palestinian president said.

For his part, Christodoulides said that he supports a two-state solution for Palestine based on the relevant UN votes of 1967.

In turn he thanked Abbas for Palestine’s long-standing support for resolving the Cyprus problem within the agreed UN framework.

“Cyprus and Palestine are in a challenging region, as you well know we cannot change geography and that’s why all the countries in the region must work together – so that we may create the conditions to work out our differences, resolve our issues within international law,” Christodoulides said.

He added that was pleased to visit Palestine as a follow-up to Abbas’ visit to Cyprus in 2022.

“Today’s visit shows the historic and strong bonds between Palestine and Cyprus,” Christodoulides said, adding that they discussed key topics.

Those include closer cooperation in the cultural, financial and tourism sectors, along with a trilateral cooperation with Greece.

Upon his arrival Christodoulides went to the mausoleum of late president Yasser Arafat, where he laid a wreath, and then went to the presidential palace, received by the Palestinian president for meetings.

Topics covered were developments in the Cyprus issue, bilateral relations, and regional developments and the Middle East.

A memorandum of cooperation is expected to be signed between the governments of Cyprus and Palestine for financing the construction of a community centre in the village of Ein Qiniya, with the two presidents then making statements to the press, before participating in a working lunch with their delegations.

The president is accompanied on his visit by, among other officials, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, and Deputy Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President Doros Venezis.