Today, Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis received his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, noting the mutual benefit that will result from the strengthening of cooperation between the two European countries. Diplomatic sources attach special importance to the Spanish Foreign Minister's visit to Nicosia.
"It was my pleasure to welcome my Spanish counterpart to Cyprus, to continue the frank talks we had in Spain last week," Christodoulidis wrote on Twitter.
As countries of Southern Europe with similar views, he added, "which are linked by strong bonds of friendship and converging interests and the benefits that Cyprus and Spain will have from the strengthening of cooperation".
In its own Twitter post, the Spanish Foreign Ministry states that Mr. Albares is meeting with his Cypriot counterpart and will also visit UNFICYP accompanied by its head Colin Stewart.
Meanwhile, diplomatic sources told KYPE that "the presence of the Spanish Foreign Minister in Cyprus is considered to be of particular importance, as it takes place a week after the meeting of the two Ministers in Madrid on the sidelines of President Anastasiadis's official visit to Spain and just two days after The last meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, in which the two Ministers participated, during which the next steps of the EU in reaction to the illegal actions of Turkey in the enclosed area of Famagusta were discussed ".
According to the same sources, "the message from the meeting is clear: Nicosia and Madrid believe that there is a common benefit from strengthening cooperation and coordination at bilateral level, especially on issues of common interest on the European agenda, such as between "EU relations with third countries, including Turkey, immigration, the use of the Med-9 forum, and cooperation with the United Kingdom in the post-Brexit era."
They noted that Spain's position at the last meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council "is not accidental and is linked to ongoing contacts", while pointing out that the Spanish Foreign Minister took office last July and that he had shown particular interest in The issues of the Mediterranean and the solidarity displayed by the EU in the Member States of the South and the Mediterranean are valued positively in Nicosia.
They added, "The political desire of Spain, an EU Member State that maintains strong economic ties as well as political and trade relations with Turkey, to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Cyprus at the moment is not accidental and is attributed to effort. to explore the possibility of exploiting Madrid's accesses in the direction of finding solutions to relevant issues that are currently under consideration in Brussels, something that Nicosia sees with a positive eye ".
Source: KYPE