An honorary consulate of Cyprus was inaugurated in Banská Bystrica city, in central Slovakia, on November 9.

According to a PIO press release, the consulate was inaugurated by the Cypriot Ambassador in Slovakia, Michalis Karagiorgis, and the Honorary Consul, Stefan Rosina, in the presence of the Speaker of the Slovakian parliament, Peter Pellegrini, the Minister of Investments, Richard Raši, as well as representatives of the local academic and business communities.

Pellegrini welcomed the decision of the Republic of Cyprus to open an honorary consulate in the city, expressing the certainty that the new Honorary Consul of Cyprus will substantially contribute to the further development of the already excellent relations between Cyprus and Slovakia.

Former president of Slovakia, Ivan Gašparovič, who attended the inauguration ceremony as an honorary guest, referred to the close ties of friendship and mutual understanding between Cyprus and Slovakia and emphasized that the ongoing division of Cyprus is something that hurts him personally, wishing for the reunification of the country as soon as possible.

Ambassador Karagiorgis addressed the ceremony and said, among other things, that the decision to operate the honorary consulate in the historic city of Banská Bystrica, proves in practice the will to further strengthen the already excellent relations between Cyprus and Slovakia. "We expect", he said, "that the Consulate will actively contribute, especially in the region of central and eastern Slovakia, to the promotion of cooperation in areas such as tourism, business activity, education and culture".

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.