President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, has said that the meeting that took place on Friday in Paris among France, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon and the interim government of Syria yielded concrete results and was not limited to just an exchange of views.
In statements in Paris after the meeting, President Christodoulides said that messages were sent to the President of the interim government of Syria, and that during the second part of the meeting, without the participation of Syria, they discussed about Lebanon and the need to support the country.
Furthermore, the President said that he discussed with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, bilateral relations and agreed to begin the work to update, strengthen and upgrade the two countries’ strategic agreement.
He also said that they touched on the issue of Turkey, noting that any developments depend exclusively on Turkey’s actions, that is, whether its publicly expressed desire to come closer to the EU is accompanied by specific actions, either concerning the Cyprus issue or the respect of the international law.
The President described the meeting in Paris as very important and productive. The first part, he said, was also attended by the President of the interim government in Syria. President Christodoulides stressed that developments in Syria affect Cyprus, Lebanon, Greece and the EU itself.
“It was very important to have this first contact,” he said, and recalled that a Cypriot official, namely the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, was among the first foreign officials who visited Syria in February, after the interim government took over.
During the meeting, he added, they had the opportunity to send some messages to the President of the interim government of Syria, such as the need for an inclusive government, the need to stop the flow of migrants from Syria to the countries of the region and to welcome Syrian migrants back to their country, as well as to never witness again events such as the recent massacre of the civilian population.
If the Syrian government respects all the above, he said, then there will be an initiative from the countries of the region for the complete lifting of sanctions against Syria. President Christodoulides noted that this is something that the interim government in Syria is asking for, ie its return to the international community.
In this context, he added, it was agreed that there will be a document with all that was agreed upon at the five-party meeting so that they can monitor the implementation of all the commitments that have been undertaken by the interim government of Syria.
Among these prerequisites, he continued, is the need to respect the international law. He added that everyone at the meeting pointed out the need to respect the Law of the Sea on the basis of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The second part of the meeting, he said, was held with the participation of the four countries (France, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon) and recalled Cyprus’ efforts to highlight the importance of supporting Lebanon as well as the visit he paid to Lebanon together with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Noting that the international community is focusing now on Gaza and Ukraine, he spoke of the importance of Lebanon and said that they discussed how the EU can further support the country. President Christodoulides said that Cyprus, France and Greece will call upon the President of the Commission to immediately begin the processes for the conclusion of a strategic agreement between Lebanon and the EU, along the lines of the agreement with Egypt and Jordan. They also agreed, he said, to see how they would jointly visit the country, saying that France also has an important initiative that it will announce soon in relation to the Oceans Conference to be held in Nice in June.
Referring to the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU, in the first half of 2026, he stressed that regional issues and in particular the situation in Lebanon and the need to support the country will be among the priorities of the Cyprus Presidency. It is important, the President noted, that there is full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 concerning the ceasefire on the borders of Lebanon with Israel.
Furthermore, he said, they discussed about the developments in the region, energy issues which he described as particularly important. He added that there is also an interest from France due to the presence of TOTAL in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Cypriot President said he was satisfied with the meeting, stressing that it was not limited to a discussion and an exchange of views, but “there were concrete results”.
Moreover, he said he discussed with the French President about their bilateral relations and the need to review and strengthen the strategic agreement between the two countries.
The Foreign Ministers, he added, will begin the work to update, strengthen and upgrade this strategic agreement and recalled that Cyprus has signed such agreements with the US and Britain.
“I consider this particularly important,” he said, adding that it covers the fields of defence, security, education, culture, energy etc.
Replying to a question, he said that Cyprus hosts ships of the French Navy on an annual basis, adding that the discussion with the French government focuses on the efforts to upgrade the naval base in Cyprus situated in Mari, in the south. He noted the existing interest from the French government and French companies adding that this was something they also discussed.
Asked if they discussed about Israel, he said that this issue was discussed and referred again to the need for the implementation of UN resolution 1701 concerning the borders between Israel and Lebanon.
“We have already requested a telephone conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister precisely because Israel is also a state of the region, it influences and is influenced by the developments and within this effort of ours for an inclusive dialogue with all the countries of the region, especially the countries that respect international law, the resolutions of the United Nations, of course there will be a discussion with Israel as well,” he said.
The President said that they also touched on the issue of Turkey, they discussed about the developments in the country, Turkey’s role in the region, and “this desire that we see at least being expressed publicly to come closer to the EU”.
Any developments, the President stressed, depend exclusively on Turkey’s actions and whether this publicly expressed desire by Ankara to come closer to the EU is accompanied by specific actions, “either concerning the Cyprus issue, or concerning more generally the respect for international law in deeds and not in words”.
It is not a matter of a precondition, he said replying to a question, adding that this is something that applies to all countries.
“It was something that we conveyed in relation to Syria, the need for an inclusive government, the need for the country’s population to not be persecuted regardless of religion,” he said, adding that “respect for international law is not a la carte, it is something that must be respected by all countries.”
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.