Kombos makes overtures for Trump to visit Cyprus

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos on Tuesday made overtures to United States President Donald Trump to pay a visit to Cyprus.

“He would be the first American president. We had vice presidents visit in the past, but that’s the maximum we had. The president, I think, is not only welcome, I think it would be a great opportunity to see how things have been done in our part of the world, and also visit a country that is very friendly to the United States,” he told website Breitbart.

Breitbart is among the most Trump-aligned of the US’ popular media outlets, and Kombos acknowledged in his interview that Trump is “very busy”.

“One can appreciate how busy he is… but landing in Cyprus, you realise the proximity of the countries around us. It’s about a few minutes, a matter of minutes, so that gives you a clear impression that this is a geopolitically, strategically positioned country that has a global reputation of being a service centre of setting up businesses,” he said.

He added that through Cyprus, “you can have business activity globally, but especially in that part of the world, in countries where it’s more difficult to set up businesses.

“We facilitate access to those markets, and at the same time, it’s about leveraging the excellent bilateral relations we have with the main players in the region. So, Cyprus makes sense. We are part of the possible solutions to a number of problems,” he said.

He added that Cyprus is not “exclusively the solution”, but that it is “a country when to contribute and perform its duties, if you like, towards the international community, and our regional stability at the same time”.

Additionally, he moved to highlight the religion of the majority of Cypriots as a potential selling point to Trump.

“Our national profile is very much attractive to the political mindset that is now dominating in Washington DC. It’s a Christian country. We care very much about the Christian populations around us, especially in countries where there are minorities, like, for example, Syria,” he said,

He added that the government has been active on this front and is financing projects of support of these Christian communities.

“This is an example where we could be partnering up with the United States, not in terms of co-financing, but with the United States bringing its clout, its leverage, and bandwidth to these kinds of projects,” he said.

He also highlighted Cyprus’ “very close relations” with signatories to the Abraham Accords – Bahrain, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan – with that agreement in 2020 having established the first step of diplomatic normalisation between Israel and its other signatories.

“This is something that we also think is extremely important and valuable in terms of looking at the future of the region, and the region has great potential, whether that’s energy resources, or whether that’s connectivity,” he said.

He then stressed the advantages of the fact that Cyprus is a member of the European Union, saying that this adds “another layer” to the country’s benefits “in the sense that the regulatory framework, the free movement of capital, of human capital, the freedom of establishment – these are important drivers for the economies”.

“Cyprus being a service centre, Cyprus having a very strong maritime sector, a very strong technological sector, all these are useful tools for countries that are willing to have a presence, and the US has a presence in the region and that is not going to change,” he said.

To this end, he said that the US’ role in the region is “being solidified”, and that this is “because of the value and importance of our neighbourhood”.

“We are using all these parameters of our profile in a way that could be useful for anyone who is willing to have a presence in Cyprus, and that extends from security, defence, intelligence sharing, trade, investment,” he said.

Three US presidents have visited Cyprus before, though none have ever visited the island during their terms in office.

Joe Biden, who served as president between 2021 and last year, travelled to the island in 2014, while he was Barack Obama’s vice president, and met both then president Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader of the day Dervish Eroglu.

Previously, Bill Clinton, who served as president between 1993 and 2001, had paid a visit to the island in 2012, while Jimmy Carter, who served as president between 1977 and 1981, visited the island in 2008.