UK House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle praised the long history of friendship and common values between Cyprus and Britain on Tuesday after a meeting with Cypriot counterpart Annita Demetriou at the House of Representatives.

Sir Lindsay, who is on a three-day official visit at the invitation of Demetriou, the first such visit by a House of Commons Speaker, said the ties of friendship were always there.

“We cooperate in many different ways, from trade to defence, from education to research, with more than 300,000 Cypriots living in the United Kingdom and 50,000 or more Britons having made their home in Cyprus and more than a million tourists from the UK visiting Cyprus every year,” he said during a joint news conference.

He said he had hoped to visit Cyprus in 2020 for the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Republic’s independence, but the pandemic did not allow him to come.

He did however say he began to understand why former Speaker Baroness Boothroyd, who holidayed frequently on the island, described it as paradise on earth.

“This is an excellent opportunity for me to build further the good relations and friendship that already exists between our two countries,” said Sir Lindsay, who also expressed the hope Cyprus would be reunited into a bizonal bicommunal federation, allowing all Cypriots to live in conditions of security and prosperity.

Demetriou said Sir Lindsay’s visit underlined the special relationship between the Cyprus Republic and the United Kingdom as well as the will to work on the further strengthening of dialogue and cooperation between the two parliaments. They agreed increasing the inter-parliamentary exchanges on different levels.

“With Sir Lindsay, we also exchanged views on cooperation, which is developing between the two countries in the post-Brexit era, in many sectors, with special reference to the field of higher education, in which regard I am pleased to announce a specific initiative will be undertaken, as one will in tourism.”

Sir Lindsay also met the members of the House foreign affairs committee and was looking forward to his meetings with British soldiers serving at the British Bases as well as in Unficyp.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sir Lindsay was received by President Nicos Anastasiades at the presidential palace.

A presidency statement said he was briefed by the President about “the on-going provocations against the Republic across the dividing line and the EEZ, with particular reference to violations of Security Council violations in the fenced off city of Famagusta.”

The President also informed the Speaker about his proposals on confidence building measures that will contribute towards a positive climate leading to the resumption of a constructive dialogue, in good faith, for the settlement of the Cyprus problem.

“Both underlined the close, excellent ties between Cyprus and the United Kingdom at all levels, including the parliamentary aspect,” the presidency statement added, noting that bilateral relations on tourism, education and the diaspora, were also discussed.