Christodoulides to Address UN General Assembly in New York
President Nikos Christodoulides travels to New York for the 81st UN General Assembly, with the Cyprus issue at the centre of his meetings with the UN chief and his personal envoy.
President Nikos Christodoulides is travelling to New York to address the 81st United Nations General Assembly, as reported by Sigmalive. During his stay he will meet the UN Secretary-General, his personal envoy, as well as heads of state and government and leaders of organisations and multinational companies. He will also hold contacts with representatives of the Cypriot diaspora.
The President begins his engagements on the evening of Sunday, 20 September with a meeting with the heads of diaspora organisations, whom he will brief on developments in the Cyprus issue.
Key meetings in the first days
On 21 September at 1:15pm New York time he will meet King Abdullah II of Jordan, and in the afternoon he will take part in a summit co-organised by European Council President Antonio Costa and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on multilateralism, international law, peace and prosperity.
On Tuesday, 22 September, he will attend the opening of the Assembly's plenary, where the UN Secretary-General will present his report. In the afternoon he will meet Javier la Rosa, President of Chevron's Base Assets and Emerging Countries division. At 6pm the same day he will meet María Ángela Holguín, the UN Secretary-General's personal envoy for Cyprus.
Address to the General Assembly
On Wednesday, 23 September, at around 12:30pm New York time, President Christodoulides will address the plenary of the UN General Assembly. He will then take part in a high-level summit convened by the UN Secretary-General on climate change, where he will deliver remarks, and in the afternoon he will meet ExxonMobil Vice President John Ardill.
On the morning of Thursday, 24 September he will attend a working breakfast organised by Antenna Group and the Atlantic Council on consolidating EU-Gulf cooperation for regional security and prosperity. At 10:55am he will meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the Secretary-General's Office in the UN building. He will then host a lunch for the Permanent Representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
On the morning of 25 September he will meet Han Zheng, Vice President of the People's Republic of China, and afterwards representatives of the AJC. Before leaving New York, he will attend a dinner held in his honour by Cypriot diaspora organisations. The President, accompanied by Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis and negotiator Menelaos Menelaou, will return to Cyprus on the evening of 26 September.
What it means for residents
The trip is largely diplomatic, and its practical effects on daily life in Cyprus will depend on what comes out of the meetings on the Cyprus issue and on energy. For now, there are no immediate changes to services, taxes or documents on the island.
- Cyprus talks: the meeting with the UN Secretary-General's personal envoy is the one to watch — any resumption of negotiations would shape the political climate at home.
- Energy: contacts with Chevron and ExxonMobil concern the island's offshore gas plans, which in the longer run affect public finances and energy costs.
- Diaspora: the President's briefings to Cypriot organisations abroad keep overseas communities tied into developments back home.
This text is written from the source article and is not a translation of it.
