Creation of planned Russian consular office in north unclear

The creation of a planned Russian consular office in the north was on Wednesday unclear, with no side willing to give much away regarding progress.

Both the Russian ambassador in Nicosia Murat Zyazikov and the Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had given indications in recent weeks that the opening of such an office was on the agenda.

Zyazikov even said the decision to begin providing consular services to Russian citizens in the north was “long overdue”.

According to Politis, the Russian embassy had filed an application to the Cypriot foreign ministry for permission to open a consular office, but the application was not accepted “for obvious reasons”.

Instead, it said, consular services will be offered in the north without the permission of the Republic, in a similar fashion to countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France.

However, no official statement on the matter has been made as yet from  any of the Cyprus foreign ministry, the Russian embassy, the Russian foreign ministry, and the north’s ‘foreign ministry’.