FM heads to Beirut for first Cyprus-Greece-Lebanon trilateral

Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides will head to Beirut on Tuesday night to participate in the first trilateral meeting between Cyprus, Lebanon and Greece, the ministry said.

Christodoulides will meet his Lebanese and Greek counterparts Gebran Bassil and Giorgos Katrougkalos respectively to discuss furthering cooperation in the sectors of tourism, education and trade.

The ministry said the three ministers are also expected to discuss regional and international issues.

On Thursday, Christodoulides and Cyprus’ energy minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis will meet Bassil and Lebanese energy minister Nada Boustani to discuss cooperation in the energy sector.

Speaking about energy to Euronews on Tuesday, Christodoulides said that it is the “spearhead” for creating new relations in the region. However, he added that energy is an issue with Turkey and makes relations difficult.

“We are making decisions based on international law, and 1982’s Law of the Sea [UNCLOS]. That is the reason energy giants have expressed interest in the Republic of Cyprus’ EEZ,” he said.

He added that the government has called on Turkey to sit down and define sea borders on the basis of international law and UNCLOS.

On the Cyprus problem, he told Euronews that there needs to be a way to find new approaches or ideas to restart talks.

Christodoulides also discussed Brexit and said that the government needs to secure the rights of Cypriot workers in the British Bases so that they are not affected by Britain’s exit from the EU.

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.