US Senator Menendez to be made honorary citizen of Paphos ahead of Cyprus world diaspora conference

US Senator Robert Menendez will be named honorary citizen of Paphos when he visits on Friday, the municipality announced on Monday, ahead of his visit set to coincide with the World Conference of Cyprus Diaspora taking place here.

Menendez is expected to also visit the American University of Beirut campus under construction in the city.

The municipality said that the honorary citizenship bestowed on Menendez is for the US Senate foreign relations committee chair’s “long-standing and tireless action for the defence, promotion and establishment of respect for international law, freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law”.

The municipality also noted Menendez’s contribution “in shaping and promoting for the Eastern Mediterranean a vision of peaceful coexistence and cooperation in an environment of security, stability and prosperity, based on international law”.

Menendez is also set to address the diaspora conference to be attended by Greek Deputy Foreign Minister George Kotsiras.

According to the Greek foreign ministry, during his visit Kotsiras will be received by President Nikos Christodoulides.

He will also hold meetings with House speaker Annita Demetriou, and with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos.

In addition, the Greek government official will be received by Archbishop Georgios III.

On the sidelines of the diaspora conference, Kotsiras will have a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Soha Samir Nashed Gendi, Minister of Immigration and Expatriates, as well as with his Armenian counterpart, High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Zareh Sinanyan.

During his stay in Cyprus, Kotsiras will lay a wreath at the military cemetery Tymvos Makedonitissa and at the Imprisoned Graves. He will also hold a series of meetings with Greek associations.

Regarding the World Conference of Cyprus Diaspora, the House speaker will address the opening ceremony on Tuesday at the University of Cyprus, Nicosia. CyBC will broadcast the event live.

This year’s conference will feature 300 delegates from around the world. President Christodoulides will likewise be addressing the opening ceremony at around 7pm on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the president will receive at the palace members of the Council of the World Federation of Overseas Cypriots (Pomak).

The diaspora conference is scheduled to run until Friday.

Attending will be foreign ambassadors – including US ambassador Julie Fisher – and political party leaders.

On Thursday, August 24, the Conference of the World Coordinating Committee- Justice for Cyprus (Pseka) will take place, featuring a presentation of the activities report by the head of the organisation, Philip Christopher.

In a closed session, foreign minister Kompos will brief participants on foreign policy matters while government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis will address the topic of international mass media and the contribution of expatriates to the promotion of the Cyprus issue.

This will be followed by a roundtable discussion featuring contributions from the US ambassador, French ambassador Salina Grenet Catalano, Israeli ambassador Oren Anolik, and UK High Commissioner Irfan Siddiq. The ambassadors will field questions from the attendees.

Delegates will also receive a closed-session briefing on defence matters from Defence Minister Michalis Georgallas and from National Guard Chief, Major-General Demokritos Zervakis.