Cyprus’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, had the opportunity to meet with officials from various countries, on the sidelines of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue, held in Bahrain.
On Sunday morning, Kombos was one of the main speakers in a panel entitled “Maritime Security as a Regional and Global Responsibility”.
Earlier, in the sidelines of the IISS, Kombos met with EU Special Representative for Sahel, Joao Cravinho, and, had a separate meeting, with EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber.
According to his post on X, they discussed EU’s engagement in Sahel and the Horn of Africa respectively, along with issues related to the upcoming Cyprus’ Presidency of the Council of the EU.
On Saturday, Kombos met for the first time with his UK counterpart, Yvette Cooper. He described their meeting as “productive and timely” and said that they focused on further strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation, especially by advancing the Cyprus-UK Strategic Dialogue. They also discussed key regional and global issues.
He also had a meeting with USA Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, who is also Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council. According to Kombos, they discussed the deepening of Cyprus-US strategic partnership, energy cooperation and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, for the promotion of regional stability and prosperity.
In the sidelines of IISS, Cyprus’ Foreign Minister also met with his counterpart from Palestine, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin. Their discussion focused on peace prospects in Gaza and regional developments, EU-Palestine relations and bilateral cooperation. “Cyprus’ upcoming EU Presidency will continue supporting the Palestinian Authority’s reform pathway”, Kombos wrote on X.
In another meeting, the Minister had the pleasure, as he notes, to meet again with Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani. “We reaffirmed our excellent bilateral ties and strategic partnership, discussed regional developments, and exchanged views ahead of Cyprus’ upcoming Presidency of the Council of EU and Bahrain’s GCC Chairmanship”, he noted.
On Saturday, Constantinos Kombos also had a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Anis Matta. Their discussion focused on prospects for further strengthening bilateral relations, including enhanced political dialogue and cooperation, the upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union and EU-Indonesia partnership.