£13 million for St James’ Square embassy

CYPRUS would be soon acquiring its own building in London to house the Republic’s embassy, it was reported yesterday.

According to Politis, negotiations for acquiring the building in London’s St. James’ Square were at an advanced stage, and the House could be voting on the necessary budget as early as autumn.

The building, which was inspected in July by a special committee, would cost taxpayers around £13 million, Politis said.

The newly renovated building had been selected due to its central location in the capital and its relatively good price.

The committee, which is made up of the permanent secretaries of the foreign and finance ministries, the planning bureau director, the director of the public works department, and a representative from the Auditor-general’s office had already submitted its proposal to the Cabinet, reports said.

Cyprus is also finalising plans a new embassy in Athens. Negotiations for the purchase of a plot are near completion and Parliament has already approved the £5.8 million needed.

The total cost of the project, which will house the island’s diplomats, press office, and trade centre, is estimated at around £11 million.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.