Press remarks by the President of the Republic of Cyprus and the President of the Republic of Latvia

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19/06/25 17:55 | Press release | President of the Republic / Presidency, Foreign Policy, European affairs, Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU 2026

The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Nikos Christodoulides, met today with the President of the Republic of Latvia, Mr Edgars Rinkēvičs, at the Riga Castle, in Latvia.

Following their tête-à-tête meeting and the meetings in an extended format, President Christodoulides and President Rinkēvičs made statements to the press.

In his remarks, President Rinkēvičs, speaking through an interpreter, said: “I was very happy to welcome today my good, dear friend, a former colleague since my times as Foreign Minister, in Latvia. This is the first official visit of a President of the Republic of Cyprus to Latvia, so it is a historic visit.

I was happy to discuss bilateral relations and cooperation within the European Union (EU) today with my colleague, and we also discussed broader security issues.

Both of our countries are very close to the epicentre of military conflicts. We are closer to Ukraine, and Cyprus has, of course, been directly affected by what is happening in the Middle East.

As far as our bilateral relations are concerned, beyond doubt, we share a very close political dialogue at the bilateral and EU level as EU member states. We also discussed the fact that Cyprus will be the presiding country of the Council of the EU next year. Cyprus would play a major role in deciding, in shaping the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) of the EU, and I emphasised our priorities within this respect. It is defence and security, of course, cohesion policy, agricultural policy, and transport connection.

Since we are like-minded countries, I do believe that we will be perfectly capable of working on different budget issues with the Cyprus Presidency, and also resolve other issues that are linked to the development of the EU.

I also voiced my firm support and hope that Cyprus will join the Schengen area. We fully support the membership of Cyprus in the Schengen area. We do believe and are absolutely confident that it will only help promote tourism and economic ties between our countries. In this regard, I can only say that from our side, we are ready to provide all necessary political and other support for this in the EU, when it comes to Cyprus joining the Schengen area.

We also, of course, discussed regional situations. We expressed our national position regarding developments in Ukraine. I should also say that Latvia highly appreciates the position of Cyprus with regard to support to Ukraine, which is currently fending off the aggressor”.

President Rinkēvičs also noted that an equally important topic is the situation in the Middle East, particularly the escalation of relations between Iran and Israel. He then presented the national position of Latvia, adding that Latvia is fully behind the common position of the EU.

President Rinkēvičs also said that President Christodoulides informed him about the sentiments in Cyprus, which is immediately next to the Middle East, something which demonstrates how close, in fact, this conflict is to the EU.

Concluding, President Rinkēvičs said they had a very constructive meeting.

On his part, President Christodoulides said: “It is a great pleasure to be in Riga today, in this first ever official visit to Latvia by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, and my first stop at the Baltics ahead of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2026.

Thank you, Mr President, dear Edgars, for the invitation and warm hospitality extended to me and my delegation, and for the excellent discussion.

With President Rinkēvičs, we go way back, to our time as Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

Cyprus and Latvia share more than meets the eye. Two small countries, member states of the EU, at the frontiers of the EU’s external border. Two member states that have endured foreign occupation – and in the case of Cyprus, a member state that continues, unfortunately, to endure the consequences of aggression, Turkey’s invasion and continuing occupation of European territory. And so, dear Edgars, our countries have always raised their voice unequivocally in support of international order, based on full respect of international law, democracy, and rule of law – upholding human rights and fundamental freedoms, and placing them at the forefront of our foreign policies.

It is these shared values and convictions that drove our aspiration to join the EU. A Union of values; a space of security and prosperity. And we both maintain that a stronger Union renders every member state stronger.

And so, today we reaffirmed our steadfast commitment to these common values. We agreed to work even closer in the years ahead, especially as Latvia and Cyprus will be taking the helm in international fora soon.

I take this opportunity, Mr President, to congratulate you on Latvia’s historic election to the United Nations (UN) Security Council for 2026-27. Latvia will take its seat in January, at the time that the UN Security Council customarily starts its deliberations for the renewal of the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). We count on your support, and I thank the President for reaffirming today Latvia’s long-standing steadfast support on reunifying Cyprus, the Union’s last divided member state, fully in line with international and European law.

In this regard, I had the opportunity to brief the President on our committed efforts to resume negotiations for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, based on the UN Security Council Resolutions and in line with the EU law, values, and principles.

With President Edgars, we also exchanged views on foreign policy and defence issues – certainly the alarming escalation in Cyprus’ and EU’s immediate region – and other core issues pertaining to the EU agenda. We reaffirmed our steadfast commitment for the continued support to Ukraine, as well as enhancing the EU’s strategic autonomy and competitiveness, and effectively addressing the instrumentalisation of migration, which was another issue we discussed today.

Ahead of the assumption of the Presidency of the Council of the EU by Cyprus in 2026, I assured President Rinkēvičs that Cyprus will act as an honest broker, so as to uphold EU unity. And I am particularly pleased that Cyprus and Latvia see eye to eye and share the same vision and priorities on the key issues on our common EU agenda.

Last, but certainly not least, with President Edgars, we had the opportunity to review our bilateral relationship. Our ties are strong, and so are the prospects and opportunities for a further enhanced multifaceted cooperation in many sectors, such as tourism. In fact, we have witnessed a major increase of both Latvians visiting Cyprus and Cypriots coming here. Significant potential is also present for our bilateral defence cooperation, and exchanging best practices on issues like innovation and energy. We agreed that we will tap into this potential with the aim to bring our people and our businesses closer, and I am very encouraged by the establishment of a business association just last year, which is indicative of our mutual willingness to work in this direction.

Mr President, dear Edgars, thank you once again for the warm welcome to Riga. Allow me to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to visit Cyprus at your earliest convenience, so as to continue our discussions”.

Replying to a question on the Middle East situation and Cyprus’ role, President Edgars said that Cyprus is one of those evacuation routes for third country nationals, and praised Cyprus for taking a very active role in helping those who are currently fleeing the conflict area.

On his part, President Christodoulides, replying to a question on the Ukrainian issue and the Middle East situation, said: “Cyprus knows very well about invasion, occupation, violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity, and violation of international law and of human rights.

In the case of Ukraine, from the very beginning, we were on the right side of history, and will continue to be, fully supporting Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Sanctions is a very important tool of the EU, and that is why we support the sanctions policy of the EU. But our sanctions can be much more effective if all member states, and especially countries that aspire to join the EU, fully aligned with this policy. If we can achieve full alignment with the EU sanction policy from the accession countries, especially in this aspect, I believe it will be much more effective.

On the issue of the Middle East, as you know, Cyprus is a member state of the EU. At the same time, we are part of the of the Middle East. We are always working on a positive agenda with all countries of the region, with which we have excellent relations.

We are not part of the problem. We are working in order to be part of the solution, and we support the efforts of the international community in order to reach a ceasefire. We do not believe that war is the solution in this very difficult situation.

We would like to see a much more active involvement of the EU in the region. At the end of the day, the Middle East is our neighbourhood. We need to do something; we need to have a leading role. It was in this aspect that we are talking with all countries of the region, and at the same time, we asked for an extraordinary Foreign Affairs Ministers Council, which took place two days ago, in order to show in action that as the EU, we are really interested about the situation in the region. As a representative of the EU in the Middle East, we are joining the efforts of the international community in order to reach a ceasefire”.

Following the press remarks, President Christodoulides had a working lunch with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, Ms Evika Siliņa. He then visited the Freedom Monument, where he laid a wreath, as well as the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence.

(RM/GS/NZ)

Press remarks by the President of the Republic of Cyprus and the President of the Republic of Latvia

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