AS MEDIA representatives basked in the sun outside the Presidential Palace in Nicosia yesterday, the peace was broken a little after midday when a convoy of around a dozen black Mercedes arrived.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reinforcing her country’s worldwide reputation for efficiency at the cost of highlighting Cyprus’ own shortcomings, was 15 minutes early.
This was the first time a German leader was visiting Cyprus, and President Demetris Christofias couldn’t have been happier.
He stood on the red-coated steps of the palace, giving Merkel a heartfelt kiss on both cheeks. “A very, very warm welcome,” he beamed.
Merkel arrived in the government’s newly purchased bulletproof black Mercedes. Equally impressive was the old, equally black, bulletproof Mercedes riding in the convoy as the ‘reserve’ car, better known for its association with former president Spyros Kyprianou.
Following a brief tour of the palace gardens, Merkel sat opposite Christofias for their tete-a-tete, in front of an unlit fireplace. In a large painting above and looking down on them was another former president, Archbishop Makarios dressed in full clerical regalia. Interestingly, Merkel’s “historic” visit was officially billed as a returned gesture following Makarios’ visit to Bonn in 1962.
After their meeting, the two held a joint press conference. Christofias spoke first while Merkel stood firm next to him, eyes blinking and head nodding on occasion.
Christofias, as he often does, began by reading a four-page statement, which he abandoned after the first page, to the exasperation of the government press officer, giving the rest of his speech off the cuff.
The two leaders looked comfortable in each other’s presence. The fact that both spoke using interpreters, however, made life slightly more difficult when it came to deciding at what point in the other’s speech to give a reassuring glance sideways, backed up by a nod and smile.
Responding to a question on the soundness of exploring for natural gas when still in conflict with Turkey, Christofias became more animated, using his arms to highlight Turkey’s use of warships and military planes to threaten Cyprus. The more his arms flayed about, the more the sound of clicking cameras drowned his voice.
Inevitably, at one point the two looked somewhat resigned to the sound of a generic tune coming from a ringing mobile phone hidden in the bag of one embarrassed photographer.
When it was the turn of the German media to be invited to ask a question, the government spokesman’s German counterpart was caught off guard as he played with his own mobile phone.
The same journalist then asked both Merkel and Christofias to comment on the measures taken by Portugal on the euro and regarding its efforts to win the trust of the markets again.
Both leaders raised their eyebrows as if reluctant to comment on Portugal’s economic woes, though Christofias had his a little higher.
He won a nod and smile from Merkel when he concluded his comments, saying: “We’re all in the same boat, and certainly we want everyone to be saved, not for the boat to sink and some to survive while others drown.”
After their working lunch and before Merkel headed down to the buffer zone, Christofias stood on the steps of the palace again with the German chancellor, pointing opposite to the flag of occupation sitting brightly on the Pendadaktylos mountain range as the sun continued to shine on another January afternoon.