President Nikos Christodoulides travels to Rome on Thursday for a two-day official visit during which he will meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella, with Cyprus-Italy bilateral relations, the Cyprus problem and the EU Council presidency among the topics on the agenda.
The visit, on 26-27 February, comes at Mattarella’s invitation and reciprocates his February 2024 trip to Cyprus — the first by an Italian head of state to the Republic of Cyprus.
On Thursday, Christodoulides will meet Meloni at 4:30 pm Cyprus time, with the two leaders to make joint statements to the media afterwards.
On Friday, he will receive an official welcome at the Quirinal Palace from Mattarella, followed by a meeting and working lunch hosted by the Italian president for Christodoulides and the Cypriot delegation, which will include Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos.
Later that afternoon, both presidents will inaugurate an archaeological exhibition titled “Cyprus and Italy, A Common Cultural Identity from the Beginning of History” at the Castel Sant’Angelo museum.
During his stay in Rome, Christodoulides will also hold a working meeting with Claudio Descalzi, chief executive of ENI, which operates in Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
