First-time visit: German president arriving to Cyprus

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be arriving to Cyprus late on Sunday afternoon for a state visit until February 13, following an invitation from President Nikos Christodoulides.

This is the first visit by a German President to Cyprus since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Steinmeier is expected underscore the close ties between Germany and Cyprus.

A Germany presidency statement said: “20 years after Cyprus joined the European Union and 50 years after the division of the island, this trip to the country in the eastern Mediterranean will also pay tribute to the close partnership with an EU member state contending with a unique political and geographical situation”.

Government Spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, said on Friday that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s first state visit to Cyprus “carries significant weight”.

Steinmeier is set to arrive in Cyprus late afternoon on Sunday accompanied by members of the German delegation.

On Monday morning, Christodoulides will receive the German President at the presidential palace, where brief ceremonies to decorate the two presidents will take place followed by meetings and extended discussions between the delegations of both countries. Following these meetings, the two presidents will make statements to the media.

After their statements, the Christodoulides and Steinmeir will visit Nicosia City Hall and then the old town of the capital along the Green Line.

“The visit of the German president along the ceasefire line in the last divided capital of Europe is both symbolic and of utmost significance,” Letymbiotis stressed.

A meal will also be hosted by the leadership of the Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation (Keve) before Steinmeier’s afternoon visit to the anthropological laboratory of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) and a brief meeting with UNFICYP peacekeepers. Later, he will visit the House of Europe and the Goethe Institute. He will also visit parliament, where he will meet with the House President.

In the evening, Christodoulides will host an official dinner in honour of Steinmeier at the presidential palace.

On Tuesday, Steinmeier will visit Makarios III Gymnasium in Platy Aglantzias, where he will talk with students before heading to the migrant reception center in Kofinou where he will be briefed by Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou.

Steinmeier will visit Lefkara village in Larnaca, which he will tour. The two presidents will have lunch in the village of Kato Drys before Steinmeier departs for Germany.