President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, could not attend the Board of Peace signing ceremony in Davos on Thursday ‘for practical reasons’, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said, noting that efforts were underway in Brussels for a common approach regarding broader participation in the Board of Peace.
He also said that the Republic of Cyprus supports US President Donald Trump’s initiatives in relation to the peace process in Gaza, and any effort aimed at strengthening peacebuilding and resolving disputes, always within the framework set by international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
Replying to a question, Kombos also said that there are issues concerning the way this Board will operate, and some questions that need to be answered, noting that an international agreement of this kind, of this content and scope, under normal circumstances requires some time to be analysed and discussed.
Speaking to the media after a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace, Kombos, referred to the Board of Peace, expressing Nicosia’s gratitude to the President of the United States for the invitation ‘to a closed circle of invitees’. Regarding protocol matters, the Minister said that an invitation was received at a later stage, addressed to the President of the Republic, to attend Davos on Thursday for the Board of Peace signing ceremony. ‘The President will not be in Davos due to other obligations and, as a result, it was not possible for him to take part,’ he added.
He noted that the Republic of Cyprus ‘supports every effort aimed at strengthening peacebuilding and resolving disputes, always within the framework set by international law and, of course, the Charter of the United Nations’.
‘We support even more strongly the initiatives that have been taken – and this has been the case from the very beginning – by President Trump in relation to the peace process in Gaza,’ he said. He recalled that the Republic of Cyprus welcomed the signing of that agreement and that President Christodoulides’ was present in Sharm el-Sheikh, as well as the recent announcement on the second phase of the Gaza peace process.
He clarified that the initial approach regarding the Board of Peace concerned its immediate operation on the issue of Gaza, in respect of which there was a relevant arrangement at UN Security Council level through Resolution 2803. ‘As a result, the Republic of Cyprus approaches this aspect in a particularly positive manner and it is something we are discussing with the US, and with friendly countries, especially within the European family,’ he added.
As regards broader participation in the Board of Peace, he said that efforts are being made in Brussels for a common approach on this matter. These efforts are ongoing, Kombos noted.
He went on to say that Nicosia’s position ‘has been communicated to the American side’.
Kombos said that subsequent developments, including those regarding Greenland, ‘do not diminish the significance of the invitation and, as a result, we believe it was approached on our part in a very careful and balanced way, taking into account all necessary and applicable parameters’. In any case, he said, ‘it is preferable to have to manage complex and delicate issues of this nature than to have been excluded in advance from such a process’. He added that this was a proof of Nicosia’s ‘successful effort to upgrade the status and the way the Republic of Cyprus is being treated’.
The Minister also said that President Christodoulides would travel to Brussels on Thursday for the extraordinary European Council meeting to discuss recent developments concerning geopolitical and geostrategic issues.