Assurance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for support to Honorary Consular Corps
The assurance that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports the Honorary Consular Corps was given by the responsible Minister, Konstantinos Kombos, during the annual General Assembly of the Corps in Cyprus, according to the Honorary Consular Corps.
The new president of the Corps, Christina Sarri, stated that the role of the Cyprus Consular Corps, “is particularly important for entrepreneurship and international relations”, it states.
According to the announcement of the Corps, the established annual General Assembly of the Honorary Consular Corps in Cyprus took place on March 14, in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Konstantinos Kobos, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassadors and Consuls.
In his speech , as reported, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, after thanking the Consuls for their kind cooperation with the Ministry, “confirmed that the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his personally, but also that of the various Directorates of the Ministry, is always at their disposal, in terms of issues which may concern the House and fall within their responsibilities”.
Then, it is added, “he made a brief record of the main objectives of the Cypriot foreign policy which are of course the Cyprus issue, the developments in the region and the Amalthia project, the ESTIA project, the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2026, and finally the candidacy of the Republic of Cyprus for election to the UN Human Rights Council”.
During the meeting, it is reported, the outgoing President of the House, Christos Tsanos, reviewed the 2023, presenting the activities, events and contacts that took place during the last year. Mr. Tsanos announced that he will not continue as President for strictly professional and personal reasons, but will be at the disposal of the new board of directors.
It is added that, upon assuming her duties, Ms. Sarri noted that “the role of the Cyprus Consular Corps, Consular Corps Cyprus, is particularly important for entrepreneurship and international relations” and that the composition of the Consular Corps includes businessmen and professionals who have both the experience and the knowledge, “so that the tightening of international relations brings significant results”. “He promised to continue the work with the same zeal for the best possible presence of the body in Cyprus”, it states.
The Vice-President of the Honorary Consular Corps is Kriton Tornaritis, the Secretary is Giorgos Xinaris, the Treasurer is Sergio Eid and the Members are Antonis Charalambous and Konstantinos Vorkas.
During his speech, Mr. Tsanos noted, among other things, that, civil society “must listen to what the Honorary Consular Corps advocates”, a body with a history dating back to 1969, which today has 120 members from 107 countries and is a founding member of the World Federation of Consuls FICAC.
“Our effort,” he said, according to the announcement, “is a continuation of the efforts of our predecessors, and must be continued with the same zeal in the future.” There is a need for constant information, renewal and regulation of issues between the Honorary Consular Corps, the embassies and the Department of Etiquette, he said, as reported. , “ongoing liaising” with the Department of Foreign Affairs to make significant upgrades to honorary consuls, such as the new common vehicle plate format, updated lists of honorary consuls published on the department's website and the link to the newly established website expected to go live next May, the upgraded email notification system and the new way to renew consular ID.
“A major milestone of the outgoing board's tenure,” it says, was the World Conference of Honorary Consuls, whose proceedings were “successfully” hosted in Cyprus in November 2022 with over 120 delegates from 70 countries.
