THE OFFICIAL two-day visit to Cyprus by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman offers the opportunity for “very honest discussion” on matters of common concern, and an improvement in financial and commercial relations, Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters after yesterday morning’s meeting with Leiberman, which marked the start of the official visit, Kyprianou said that the meeting allowed discussion on matters that would help Cyprus and Israel to improve on “excellent” relations.
“Although financial and commercial relations between the two countries are good, there is the possibility of greater improvement”, he said.
Kyprianou added: “We have opened a constructive dialogue with Israel on all matters – political, practical and financial – including things on which we do not share the same opinion, but we are able to have a very honest discussion on these matters.”
The minister said that promoting good relations between the two countries will helped by the large number of existing agreements between the two countries, “and we discussed the implementation of these agreements as well as new agreements that we could reach in the near future.”
Lieberman referred to the regular bilateral contact in recent months, covering aviation, shipping, alternate forms of energy, healthcare, science, agriculture and desalination plants, and said this was a good sign for open political dialogue and excellent relations, which he hopes will continue.
The two foreign ministers made no mention in their public comments yesterday to the potentially thorny problem of the Blue Stream 2 gas pipeline project.
In August last year, Turkey and Russia signed a number of agreements on power projects, including one to construct a natural gas pipeline that is intended to run from Ceyhan in Turkey to Ashkelon in Israel, via a transit station in Karpasia in the north of Cyprus.
If the project goes ahead, it would pose a number of difficult political questions such as the use of Cypriot sovereign territory in the north, and relations between Cyprus and Russia, which Nicosia considers as a powerful ally at least within the framework of the United Nations.
Yesterday afternoon, the Israeli Foreign Minister visited a desalination plant in Larnaca. An agreement was signed In August last year between the Cyprus government and a consortium which includes the Israeli company Mekorot Development and Enterprise Ltd for the construction of a desalination plant at Episkopi in Limassol.
Later on, Lieberman met Communication and Works Minister Nikos Nicolaides, and the two signed a bilateral co-operation agreement on merchant shipping.
Today Lieberman is scheduled to meet President Demetris Christofias, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou, and then Archbishop Chrysostomos, followed by House President Marios Garoyian, DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Averoff Neophytou.