Dealing with the increased migration flows from Lebanon to Cyprus will be at the center of the contacts that the President Christodoulidis will hold in Beirut later.
Last week, 15 boats carrying 800 people made the journey from Lebanon, leaving Cyprus in what Christodoulides, called “a state of serious crisis”.
“We are indeed in a crisis, but I want to assure you that we will do everything possible, and by saying everything possible I am not excluding anything, so that we can deal with this situation,” he told reporters Thursday.
During his time in Beirut, Christodoulidis will have a private meeting with the Prime Minister of the country, while extended talks will follow between the delegations of the two countries.
Afterwards, Christodoulidis will also have a meeting with the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament. The President will be accompanied to Beirut by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Interior, the Government Spokesperson, the Chief of the National Guard, and the National Security Advisor.
Over the weekend, Christsoulidis discussed the migrant issue with Ursula von der Leyen in Athens on the sidelines of the New Democracy conference.
More than 2,000 people have arrived in Cyprus by sea in the first three months this year, compared to just 78 in the same period last year, according to Cypriot government data.
Another two boats with irregular immigrants arrived in Cyprus during the night carrying 68 illegal immigrants, 67 from Syria and…
