SWEDEN has decided to give Cyprus another chance following former President Tassos Papadopoulos’ diplomatic gaffe last year that led to strained relations between Nicosia and Stockholm.
Yesterday Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt extended an invitation to new President Demetris Christofias to visit Sweden.
The invitation was extended through Sweden’s ambassador to Cyprus Ingemar Lindahl during a meeting he had with Christofias.
“I had a very good meeting with the new President of Cyprus Mr Christofias and I wanted also to express my best wishes to him,” Lindahl told reporters.
Lindahl described bilateral relations between the two countries as “excellent”, but this did not appear to be the case three months ago when a planned visit to Sweden by then Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis was cancelled because of Papadopoulos’ diplomatic gaffe.
Papadopoulos raised eyebrows after he implied that Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt’s favourable stance on the thorny issue of direct trade for Turkish Cypriots was different to that of the Swedish government.
In his comments, Papadopoulos said he had spoken to Reinfeldt and then implied that Reinfeldt had a different view to Bildt.
Behind the scenes, Stockholm informed Nicosia that its policy on direct trade was constant and formulated by the Swedish government’s Foreign Ministry. They added that there were no disagreements and labelled Papadopoulos’ comments as “unfortunate”.
Lindahl said in writing at the time: “Sweden has one common foreign policy, decided by the government and executed by the Foreign Minister. Any other interpretation is unfounded.”
The gaffe led to the cancellation of Marcoullis’ visit to Sweden in December, but now with a new President, visits are back on.
“Our Prime Minister would very much like to see Mr Christofias in Sweden to continue our good relations so far,” Lindahl said yesterday after his meeting with the President.
Christofias was asked later if the planned visit meant that relations had been restored: “I do not believe that relations between the two countries were damaged to the extent that we need to speak about their re-establishment,” he said.
