France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, is expected to visit Cyprus before the end of the year, as mentioned during today’s meeting between President Nikos Christodoulides, and French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, the Director of the Press Office of the President, Victoras Papadopoulos, said in a written statement.

The visit of the French President “will be of exceptional importance”, he notes, since it will be the first bilateral visit to the Republic of Cyprus the French President will make, and which will further strengthen the already excellent relations between the two countries in all sectors”.

According to Papadopoulos, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, is expected to visit Cyprus before the end of this year, as mentioned during today’s meeting between President Christodoulides and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is in Cyprus on an official visit.

In the meeting it was noted, Papadopoulos said, that during President Macron’s visit “the opportunity will be given to discuss issues of common interest, such as the further strengthening of institutional cooperation between Cyprus and France through the completion and signing of the upgraded Strategic Agreement, which will pave the way for enhanced cooperation between the two countries.” He notes that during the President’s meeting with the French Foreign Minister, “the mutual will to further strengthen bilateral relations in the field of defence, including infrastructure, bilaterally but also in the broader EU context, was also underlined.”

The President of the Republic, he added, referred to the preparations for the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2026 and noted that a key priority of the Republic of Cyprus will be to bring the EU closer to the Middle East and the Gulf region.

“The meeting also dealt with developments in the region and highlighted the need for the EU to play a more active role in the Eastern Mediterranean”, Papadopoulos said.

According to the statement, President Christodoulides also informed the French Foreign Minister about the latest developments on the Cyprus issue following the recent informal meeting in New York and the decisions of the United Nations Secretary-General on the next steps, “noting his will and readiness for the immediate resumption of the talks from the point where they were interrupted and on the basis of the agreed framework.”

“The President of the Republic also stressed the importance of the appointment of the Special Envoy of the President of the European Commission for the Cyprus problem in the efforts made by the UN Secretary-General for the resumption of the talks for reaching a solution,” he adds.

“He also underlined France’s crucial importance, which is the only EU member state that is a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, in highlighting the role that the EU must play in the efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem,” he also said.

For his part, the French Foreign Minister “assured” that his country supports the efforts of the UN Secretary-General for the resumption of the talks based on the UN resolutions and within the agreed framework, but also on the basis of the principles and values of the EU and the European acquis, he concludes.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Source: Parikiaki.com