Cyprus's President Nikos Christodoulides met with Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun in Beirut on Friday, just a day after his election.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides became the first international leader to meet the newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, which has symbolic and of substantive significance.
For Christodoulides, it is a continuation of the contacts he has held in recent days with leaders of states in the region.
On Thursday, he met with the President of Israel and the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, while on Wednesday, he was in Cairo and had a meeting with the President of Egypt in the framework of the trilateral meeting in which Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis participated.
Christodoulides congratulated Joseph Aoun on his election to the presidency, saying that he is there to work together so that Cyprus and the EU support the country.
“Before the visit I spoke with President Macron and the President of the Commission. We want to define steps for EU support as soon as possible,” he said, adding: “We want to reach a strategic and comprehensive agreement on this as soon as possible.”
At the same time, when conditions allow, Christodoulides said, “I invite you to Brussels to the European Council, I will organise meetings with the 27 leaders and the President of the Commission to present your vision for the country and on January 1, 2026, when Cyprus takes over the presidency, we will do something especially for Lebanon.”
“You can count on us, we are brothers,” President Christodoulides said among other things.
In addition, during the meeting, issues concerning bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, security, trade and shipping were discussed, while emphasis was placed on the common challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean and the need to effectively address them, with coordination of actions, both at bilateral level and through the mechanism of trilateral meetings and regional cooperation.
Christodoulides expressed Nicosias’ firm support to Lebanon’s efforts to strengthen the country’s stability and economic recovery, while the Lebanese president expressed gratitude for the continued support of the Republic of Cyprus.
At the same time, he noted his willingness to further strengthen cooperation at all levels, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by Cyprus’ participation in the European Union.
The two leaders agreed to keep open their communication channel and to proceed with concrete actions that will further strengthen the strategic relations between Cyprus and Lebanon and the European Union, consolidating the sense of security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.
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