Estonian President Alar Karis’ visit to Cyprus in pictures

Estonian President Alar Karis has wrapped his official visit to Cyprus, after a three-day packed agenda. Beyond his official meetings with President Nikos Christodoulides and House President Anna Demetriou, Alar Karis also visited the Cyprus Crisis Training Center CYCLOPS, met with the UN Special Representative and Head of Mission in Cyprus, Colin Stewart, and talked with the members of the Committee on Missing Persons – among many other things.

A trip down the historic capital

The Estonian president regularly updated his Facebook page throughout his visit. Among his ventures was a walk through the capital, accompanied by President Christodoulides and First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides, as well as Nicosia Mayor Constantinos Yiorkadjis.

“The streets of the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, could speak of a lot of history,” President Karis said on his social media.

“From the roof of the city government building, an eloquent view opened, where the view captures history and development. President Christodoulides and I also talked about the Cyprus reunification process.”

(Photo credits : Raigo Pajula)

The Cyprus-Estonia Business Forum

The Estonian President also attended the Cyprus-Estonia Business Forum, which was organised by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI), Enterprise Europe Network Cyprus and the Estonian Chamber of Commerce & Industry. CCCI said on its social media that the forum “serves as a pivotal platform to fortify commercial relations between #Cyprus and #Estonia, with a particular focus on Maritime, Cybersecurity, and IT sectors”.

“Estonia and Cyprus have many similarities,” Alar Karis posted on FB. “Both are maritime countries - this is an area where we could significantly increase cooperation. On top of that, we both value digitalization of entrepreneurship, which helps to increase productivity and thus companies profit. I invited Estonian and Cyprus entrepreneurs to cooperate at the business seminar. I am also waiting for Cypriot entrepreneurs to visit Estonia.”

(Photo credits : Raigo Pajula)

He was accompanied by representatives of Admirals Group, Amisco, Datel, DefSecIntel, Saaresalu and Sillamäe Dam, as well as Taltech Kuressaare College and the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Cyprus.

CMP visit: “The conflict decades ago brought losses to many families in Cyprus”

“The conflict decades ago brought losses to many families in Cyprus,” the Estonian president said in a post about his visit to the CMP.

“The committee is a good example of how representatives from both communities work together on an important issue.”

Visit to UN headquarters and CyI

President Karis spoke to the UN Special Representative and Head of Mission in Cyprus Colin Stewart about the prospects for finding a solution to the Cyprus question.

“I also went to see the activities of the Cyprus Institute, which is a research and educational institution with a scientific and technological orientation. Its competence and grip of international cooperation is impressive,” he posted.

(Photo credits : Raigo Pajula)

A trip to CYCLOPS before heading home

As his official visit to Cyprus came to an end, the Estonian president paid one last visit. “Before heading home, we visited a unique place - the Cyprus Crisis Training Center CYCLOPS. This is a regional crisis field training center where experts from more than 30 countries are currently being trained, including Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, to guard the border, detect smuggled goods, identify biological and nuclear weapons and much more.”