(As delivered)
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf
January 5, 2021
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus
Nicosia, Cyprus
The Foreign Minister and I just concluded an excellent meeting. Our discussions focused on the strong partnership between the United States and the Republic of Cyprus to face common security challenges and to promote stability in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
As just one example of the growing cooperation between our two countries, today we signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on Border Security Cooperation. We are proud to be moving forward with our strong bilateral security relationship to counter threats affecting both our countries.
We also discussed the Republic of Cyprus’ aspirations to join the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. We certainly share a willingness to continue to work through our established processes to support the Republic of Cyprus’ progress towards meeting the program’s eligibility requirements. This will, in turn, facilitate trade and travel while bolstering our security partnership. We look forward to continuing to work on that as well.
The Republic of Cyprus and the United States government commemorated sixty years of diplomatic relations in 2020. At the beginning of this year, I can confidently say that the bilateral relationship has never been stronger. Based on our discussions today, it will only grow stronger.
The United States is committed to working with the Republic of Cyprus and other like-minded countries in the region to achieve our shared goals of security and prosperity for our populations.
I want to extend my gratitude to Foreign Minister Christodoulides for hosting me. It has been a productive trip. It started yesterday with the groundbreaking at CYCLOPS, which we believe in the years to come will be a center of excellence here in the Republic of Cyprus and for the entire region. We look forward to continuing our role on that. The United States looks forward to future positive collaboration with the Republic of Cyprus not only on security partnership and cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security but across the board with the United States government. Thank you again.