Cyprus’ Foreign Minister, Constantinos Kombos, is to attend the informal meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels at the end of the month, diplomatic sources have told CNA, noting that the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, was also invited.

The informal meeting, which will be in the form of a working lunch, will take place on August 29 in the Belgian capital.

According to the same sources, the Turkish Foreign Minister was also invited to attend the meeting, after the Republic of Cyprus gave the green light, but he has not yet answered whether he will be attending or not.

The same sources noted that if and when the Turkish Minister accepts the invitation, it is expected that Kombos and Fidan would have the opportunity to talk.

The informal meeting will take place in Brussels, instead of Budapest in response to actions and statements of the Government of Hungary on the Union's stance on the war in Ukraine. These informal meetings are hosted by the country holding the EU presidency, currently Hungary.

This change was announced by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, after a meeting and discussion of the EU Foreign Ministers last month regarding the initiative of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to visit Kiev, Moscow and China, visits which he presented as peace efforts, as well as statements by the Hungarian Foreign Minister at the UN headquarters.

Turkey, which occupies 37% of Cyprus' territory since 1974, does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus an EU member state since 2004.