Press Releases

The President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, welcomed today, at the Presidential Palace, the Prime Minister of Portugal, Mr António Costa, who is paying an official visit to Cyprus, and who will also participate, in the afternoon, in the proceedings of the Summit Conference of the seven southern countries of the European Union.

Prime Minister Costa arrived in the morning at the Presidential Palace where he was welcomed by the President of the Republic while a military guard was presenting honors. The performance of the national anthems of the two countries followed, and then Mr Costa laid a wreath at the statue of Archbishop Makarios III, the first president of the Republic of Cyprus, in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace.

Subsequently, the President and the Prime Minister held a private meeting which was followed by extended talks between the delegations of the two countries.

Later on, the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister of Portugal made remarks to the Media.

In his remarks, the President of the Republic said the following:

“Let me begin by extending a very warm welcome to the Prime Minister of Portugal, my dear friend António Costa, on his official visit to Cyprus. 

Dear António, your visit today constitutes a historic moment for the relations of our two countries, since it is the first ever visit of a Portuguese Prime Minister to the Republic of Cyprus.

Cyprus and Portugal share long-standing ties of friendship and have always enjoyed excellent relations, both at the level of Government and of our peoples. This is a relationship which we greatly value and which we jointly aspire to further reinforce and strengthen.

Today, we have held very constructive consultations where we reviewed the architecture of our cooperation and discussed a number of ways to further expand our relations, both bilaterally and within the context of the European Union.

And I am very glad to attest that our convergence of views with Portugal, on a vast field of areas and synergies like trade and investment, shipping, energy, education and culture is more than evident.

To this end, we endeavour to continue our high-level dialogue, so as to identify opportunities for closer cooperation between Cyprus and Portugal.

In this context, we also discussed the possibility of organising a business forum in the near future, with the aim to pursue stronger trade relations and promote business opportunities between Cypriot and Portuguese entrepreneurs, as well as to further boost people-to-people contacts.

When it comes to the European Union, I would like to reiterate that within our European family we consider Portugal as one of our most reliable friends and partners. We may be at the two geographical extremes of our continent, yet we have mutual interests and concerns.

In this context, during our deliberations, we reaffirmed with the Prime Minister our common belief in a strong EU, based on its fundamental principles and values of democracy and solidarity, and agreed that the discussion on the Future of Europe is both essential and timely.

Prime Minister Costa and I concurred on the crucial importance of working closely together, with a view to effectively tackling major European challenges, such as among others, the management of migratory pressures and the measures we need to adopt; the developments on Brexit; as well as the negotiations concerning the Multi-Annual Financial Framework.

Moreover, I had the opportunity to brief the Prime Minister on the implementation of our hydrocarbon exploration program and how Cyprus can contribute substantially to the European Union’s energy security and diversification of sources and routes.

Cyprus is greatly invested in contributing to the peace, prosperity and security of its region. In this respect, I also informed about the trilateral partnerships we have established with neighbouring countries, together with Greece, to the benefit of the whole region.

I also had the opportunity to brief Prime Minister Costa on the latest developments on the Cyprus problem – a European problem - and particularly the efforts of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General to reach an agreement on the “Terms of Reference” as regards the way forward.

What is of course required is for all interested parties and stakeholders to adopt a constructive stance and engage on the basis of good will with the Special Envoy, in order to establish the necessary conditions that will allow the dialogue to resume.

I reiterated to the Prime Minister that the vision of all Cypriots remains none other than to reach a viable and functional settlement that will reunite Cyprus in a truly independent and modern European state, free of foreign interventions, troops and guarantees.

Taking this opportunity, I wish to express the sincere gratitude and appreciation of the Government and the people of Cyprus to the Prime Minister and the Government of Portugal, for the principled stance and important support they offer to Cyprus in our efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement in line with the UN Security Council Resolutions and the EU acquis, values and principles.

Dear António,

In closing, I would like once again to warmly welcome you to Cyprus and underline my conviction that this visit opens a new chapter in our relations, bringing us even closer, to the mutual benefit of our nations and prosperity of our people.”

On his part, Prime Minister Costa said that “I am very pleased for this opportunity to visit Cyprus and I want to thank President Nicos Anastasiades for the invitation and I am very honoured to be the first Portuguese Prime Minister to officially visit Cyprus.

Geographically we are in opposite extremes of our continent but we are very close sharing a common vision about the future of the European Union, the most important challenges we need to face at European level and in the wish to strengthen our bilateral relations.

Portugal signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations in 2013 and upgraded its diplomatic representation to Ambassador level in 2014. We are looking to increase political consultations. Our trade relations are slowly expanding but they are still modest. Considering the structures of both economies there is clear room for improvement, not only in traditional sectors but also in more technological areas.”

Concluding, Prime Minister Costa said that “during our conversation we have identified three specific events that we need to concentrate our efforts on.

First of all, on organizing a business forum to bring our entrepreneurial communities in contact and strengthen the people to people contact. Secondly to increase our cooperation on scientific domain, especially on maritime science. Finally, to share best practices in the tourism sector.”

(RM/MG/SCH)