Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades announced on Sunday evening that Israeli citizens who have been vaccinated with an EMA approved vaccine will be able to freely travel to Cyprus from April 1st this year.
 
Netanyahu and Anastasiades, who were speaking following a tete a tete meeting they had on Sunday afternoon which took place in the context of a working visit President Anastasiades is paying the neighbouring country, both made references to the strong relationship the two countries have formed.
 
According to a Cyprus presidency press release in his remarks, Prime Minister Netanyahu welcomed President Anastasiades calling him a “great friend of Israel and a great personal friend of mine.”,
 
“Since you were first elected President in 2013 we work tirelessly and effectively to build a very special partnership between Cyprus and Israel and through our common efforts I think we have ensured that our relationship is constantly growing strong all the time,” Netanyahu noted.
 
He added that “Israel and Cyprus embrace a future of progress, prosperity, peace and security.”
 
He continued noting that the two countries cooperate in fields such as energy, water, tourism, public security and emergency services.
 
Our medical cooperation has grown over the years but the common battle against covid -19 has energized that important cooperation, he said.
 
He thanked Cyprus’ willingness to recognise Israel’s vaccination passports and Israel will recognise Cyprus’ vaccination passports. This opens up the possibility of starting tourism in the near future, it is not going to open in the next few weeks but it will open not far away.
 
He said they will continue working on the EastMed pipeline and this can bring our efforts for exporting natural gas to new heights and new possibilities. He also said that recently he received good suggestions by the Prime Minister of Greece.
 
Netanyahu said that the Abraham Accords open up options for new cooperation in the region which could involve Cyprus as well.
 
He also noted the excellent bilateral relations of Cyprus and Israel. 
 
On his part, President Anastasiades said that “the fact that I am accompanied by four Ministers of my Government who have already had the opportunity to discuss with their Israeli counterparts a wide range of topics, such as our bilateral and multilateral cooperation, our energy synergies, our defence and tourism partnerships, aptly demonstrates the strategic depth of our relationship.”
 
He pointed out that in the consultations to follow, Prime Minister Netanyahu and I, will exchange views on the negative impact of the pandemic on our societies, economies and health systems, and will discuss ways by which to mitigate these dire consequences.
 
“We are well aware that vaccination is an extremely important tool in halting the pandemic. By increasing the number of people vaccinated, we can reduce the numbers of those affected, hospitalizations and deaths and, in turn, help reduce the burden on our medical system,” he stressed.
 
In this respect, President Anastasiades said, “it would be an omission on my behalf if I failed to warmly congratulate the Prime Minister for his leadership as regards the most timely and speediest rapid vaccination rollout, which has established the country as a world champion in this respect.”
 
In this regard, I look forward to hearing more on the very successful Israeli vaccination drive and in examining ways of deepening our professional cooperation in this respect.  
 
President Anastasiades further said that “we will also have the opportunity to exchange views over Israel’s “Green Passport” proposal, also in light of the fact that the resumption of unrestricted free movement is of great importance to Cyprus, which is a tourism-dependent country.”
 
To this end,  he pointed out, “I am pleased to inform that an agreement has been reached between our two competent authorities, with which, from April 1st 2021, Israeli citizens who have been vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the European Medicine Association will not be required to take a PCR test to travel to Cyprus and will not be placed in quarantine upon arrival.”
 
“I will also be very interested in hearing from you, Mr. Prime Minister, about the new Covid-19 treatment being developed at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center, taking also into account that our competent authorities have agreed that Cyprus will take part in the clinical trials,” President Anastasiades said.
 
Referring to the bilateral relations between the two countries he said that “I have no doubt that, following also the ministerial meetings which took place earlier on, we will reaffirm the excellent co-operation and synergies we have established both bilaterally and multilaterally.”
 
“We will also exchange views and ideas on further strengthening our mutually beneficial partnership, particularly in the field of energy, with a special focus on joint projects, such as the EastMed pipeline and the Eurasia interconnector,” he added.
 
He also spoke of the trilateral cooperation partnership with Greece, noting that, it “has established added value practical synergies, aimed at promoting stability and peace, in accordance with international law and based on the principles of good neighbourly relations and effective multilateralism.”
 
Referring to “the historic Abraham Accords” he said that they mark “a paradigm shift in regional dynamics.”
 
“At the same time, Cyprus will also continue to endorse and support efforts in assisting the return to direct and meaningful negotiations aiming at resolving the Israeli – Palestinian conflict and fostering long – term peace,” he added.
 
President Anastasiades also said that in view of the upcoming 5+1 informal meeting to take place under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General he would have the opportunity to brief Netanyahu, “on the latest developments on the Cyprus question and convey our clear position.”
 
He assured that “the form of the envisioned settlement is none other than to establish a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, in line with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and the EU values and principles.”.
 
A settlement, he said, “that will terminate the anachronistic system of guarantees and the presence of occupying troops, establishing a functional, viable and truly independent state.”
 
After the statements to the Media, the President of the Republic and Mr Netanyahu attended a working dinner at the Prime Minister’s residence.