Cyprus President Anastasiades welcomes PM Mitsotakis to island republic

Cyprus Republic President Nicos Anastasiades welcomed Greece's prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on a two-day working visit to the island republic on Monday, "with particular joy," as he said in a tweet.

Anastasiades said that the fact Mitsotakis chose to make his first overseas trip to Cyprus "shows the strong long-term ties of our countries and confirms (your) personal decision to continue the very close collaboration.".

His visit to the Cyprus Republic "is not just a symbolic trip, it is a substantive one," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on camera on Monday, during a meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades at the presidential mansion in Nicosia.

"Greece and Cyprus always face significant challenges in the wider region together and united," Mitsotakis said, expressing also his "great joy and honor to make my first official trip abroad to Cyprus in particular, continuing the consistent tradition of the Greek prime minister always visiting Cyprus first after assuming duties."

The premier is on a two-day visit to the island republic.