The meeting between President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides with Pope Francis in the Holy See was of particular significance, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Friday and described it as substantive and symbolic. 

According to a press release by the Presidency, in statements after the meeting, Letymbiotis said that the President's visit to the Holy See was of particular importance and symbolism pointing out that this was Christodoulides first visit to the Holy See since assuming office as President of Cyprus.

The meeting, he added, also took place in view of the completion of 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Letymbiotis said that in view of the further enhancement of the already excellent relations that Cyprus has with the Holy See, the President of the Republic discussed with Pope Francis about the developments in our region and referred to Nicosia's initiative for humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

He said that the President expressed Cyprus' concern about a possible escalation of the crisis in the region and that Cyprus, being a state in the region and having excellent relations with the countries in the region, is making every effort towards the de-escalation of the crisis.

Letymbiotis noted that during the meeting they also discussed about the issue of Immigration, pointing out that Cyprus and Italy, as EU frontline states, are faced with great migration flows adding that "this is where we have common aspirations and goals with Italy, but also with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church".

President Christodoulides and Pope Francis, he said, also had the opportunity to discuss the Cyprus issue, the efforts made by the Greek Cypriot side to resume the negotiations from where they had been interrupted, as well as the efforts of the Republic of Cyprus to preserve and protect the religious and cultural heritage in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus.

The Spokesman said that during the meeting it was pointed out that more than 500 religious and cultural monuments in the occupied territories, including Maronite churches, are at risk of collapse, many have already collapsed and added that the efforts of the competent Technical Committees need to be further strengthened so as to preserve these one of a kind, extraordinary religious monuments.

Meanwhile, regarding the meeting between the President of the Republic and the Managing Director of ENI company, the Spokesman said that it was deemed as very important, given the President's visit to Italy, adding that ENI is active in many plots in the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone.

"Cyprus' energy plans proceed and today the President of the Republic will discuss with the head of the company how ENI's works can further speed up or remain firm to Cyprus' plans.

He pointed out that especially after the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, the exploitation of the Cypriot natural gas is of particular importance for the entire EU in its efforts to achieve energy independence from Russian natural gas.

Replying to a journalist's remark that ENI had stated that it needs Turkey's permission to proceed with drilling, he said that "ENI has responded and there was a statement after that statement. ENI is in many plots and Cyprus' energy plans proceed normally. By the beginning of 2024, we are waiting to see how the ENI work will progress, so that our energy planning can be completed", he concluded.