Cyprus and Greece on Wednesday signed in Athens an agreement on mutual academic recognition of university degrees.

Cyprus’ Minister of Education, Sport and Youth, Prodromos Prodromou, in a written statement said that this was a very important agreement, which comes to seal the close, continuous cooperation between the two Ministries.

He added that together with his Greek counterpart, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Niki Kerameus, have reached an agreement, which will allow a faster, “practically almost automatic”, mutual recognition of the university degrees of the institutions recognised by the Hellenic Republic in Cyprus and the institutions recognised by the Republic of Cyprus in Greece. Prodromou noted that though recognition of institutions already exists through the respective institutional bodies in both Greece and Cyprus, “it is the first time that we have such an Interstate Agreement”.

He also mentions that, for almost two centuries, tens, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of Cypriots have studied in Greece, while in recent years, many Greeks are pursuing university studies in Cyprus, either in the public universities or at other universities.

Prodromou said that, with this agreement “we facilitate university exchanges, the movement of students and academic recognition”, in a way that will contribute to further development of higher education, both in Greece and in Cyprus.