Press release regarding the contacts that the Minister of Foreign Affairs had during his working visit to Saudi Arabia
Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides met with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in Riyadh today, as part of his working visit to the country.
The two Ministers had the opportunity during a tête-à-tête meeting and during the extended deliberations that followed between the two sides, to examine ways to further enhance the Cyprus-Saudi Arabia ties, both by promoting a number of bilateral Agreements to be signed as well as by taking targeted joint actions to strengthen cooperation in areas, such as tourism, trade and entrepreneurship.
In this context, Messrs. Christodoulides and Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud decided, inter alia, to swiftly initiate a political dialogue between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries, by convening the first meeting for political consultations in Riyadh in the immediate future.
During the meeting, they also exchanged views on the situation in the broader region of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Gulf, in light of the latest developments, and highlighted the importance that both countries attach to efforts aimed at driving forward an inclusive regional cooperation, based on respect for International Law and good neighbourly relations. Finally, EU-Saudi Arabia relations were discussed and Cyprus’ role in reinforcing these relations was reaffirmed.
Later on, the Foreign Minister met with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Adel al-Jubeir, with whom he discussed regional and international affairs of common interest, as well as the bilateral relations between the two countries.
The program of the visit was concluded in the afternoon with a meeting between Mr. Christodoulides and the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Dr. Nayef Falah M. Al-Hajraf, during which views were exchanged on the situation in the Gulf region following the recent signing of the Al-Ula Agreement for the normalization of relations between the members of the Organization, as well as on the prospects for further enhancing the cooperation between Cyprus and the Council.
The Foreign Minister ideparts Saudi Arabia tonight.