SETimes.comDiplomatic Diary: President of India visits Cyprus
03/11/2009
Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Indian counterpart Pratibha Devisingh Patil meet in Nicosia. Also in diplomatic news: Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic was in Japan and Albania and China marked 60 years of diplomatic ties.
Cypriot President Demetris Christofias voiced support on Saturday (October 31st) for India's permanent membership in the UN Security Council. His statement came at a state banquet in honour of his visiting Indian counterpart, Pratibha Devisingh Patil. The latter arrived in Cyprus on Thursday from Great Britain, where she was on a state visit. She is the first Indian president to visit Nicosia in 20 years.
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Slovakia supports Turkey's EU bid and believes the country is on the right track to fulfilling criteria set by the bloc, Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic said on Monday (November 2nd), after meeting with Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul in Bratislava. Gasparovic stressed that the more reliable members the EU has, the stronger the bloc will become, both politically and economically.
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Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou met with British counterpart Gordon Brown on Saturday (October 31st) as part of his visit to London. The two officials discussed the main aspects of the European Council meeting held in Brussels last week, including a strategy for the creation of new jobs and measures to fight climate change.
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Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor kicked off a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Tuesday (November 3rd), where she will hold talks with BiH counterpart Nikola Spiric, High Representative Valentin Inzko and representatives of Bosnian Croat parties.
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Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said on Friday (October 30th) that reaching a solution to the long-standing Cypriot issue by the end of this year would be very hard. Speaking at a press conference after meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Ankara, Talat said that the Turkish Cypriot side has done everything possible to find a solution to the dispute this year, suggesting intensified negotiations and talks on a deadline.
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Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and visiting Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic agreed on Thursday (October 29th) that Serbia is a key country for stability and prosperity in the Balkans. They stressed the importance of further developing bilateral political and economic relations, as well as co-operation in environmental protection.
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Albania and China marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations on Thursday (October 29th) in Tirana. Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Dejiang said that strengthening relations with Albania is in the interest of Beijing, adding that the two countries will focus on economic and trade co-operation.
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Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Greek counterpart George Papandreou met for the first time in Brussels on Thursday (October 29th) on the sidelines of the European Council meeting. They agreed that finding a mutually acceptable solution to the name row between their countries is essential. The two officials backed the Balkans' European perspective, according to representatives of their offices.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Prime Minister Nikola Spiric warned on Wednesday (October 28th) that his country's stability could be endangered by outside pressure for constitutional changes. After talks with Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor in Ljubljana, Spiric stressed that only BiH can guarantee its own peace and integrity.
(Various sources – 27/10/09-03/11/09)