NEW BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER, STEPHEN LILLIE, PRESENTED HIS CREDENTIALS TO THE PRESIDENT OF CYPRUS

The new British High Commissioner, Stephen Lillie, presented his credentials to the President of the Republic of Cyprus on 11 May 2018.

Stephen Lillie introduction:   https://www.facebook.com/ukincyprus/videos/1970949022978101/

Speech by British High Commissioner Stephen Lillie on the occasion of his presentation of credentials to the President of the Republic:

Your Excellency, It is a great honour and privilege for me to have been appointed as the new British High Commissioner in Cyprus.

In assuming my new duties I am very well aware of the long and special history that our two countries have together. This is a relationship of many different dimensions, not without its complexities, but also with a great deal to celebrate. Perhaps the most important historical legacy is the network of personal connections between the two countries, with our large British community of over 70,000 residents here in Cyprus, and some 300,000 Cypriots or Britons of Cypriot origin living in the UK. In this context, I was delighted to note that in our recent local council elections in England and Wales, at least 16 Britons of both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot origin were elected.

As well as personal connections, we enjoy a wealth of cultural, economic and institutional ties. All of this provides a firm foundation for further expanding our relations across a whole range of areas: trade, finance and investment; tourism; education and science; law enforcement; public sector and economic reform; foreign and defence policy. In other words, while we must always respect, learn from and build on our history, my focus as High Commissioner will be very much on what we can achieve together in future.

Mr President, I am arriving in Cyprus at a significant time for our relations. Here in Cyprus you have begun your second term as President. In your first term you oversaw the strengthening of ties between our two countries and their development into a stronger, more collaborative relationship between partners. We have similarly high hopes for your second term.

In the United Kingdom, we are preparing to leave the European Union, in accordance with the wishes of the British people expressed in the 2016 referendum. I am determined that as we leave the EU, the British High Commission will work to build an even wider and deeper relationship between Britain and Cyprus: a relationship founded on shared values as liberal free-trading democracies and the rule of law, shared membership of the Commonwealth, shared institutional links and the common law system, and of course the wealth of personal connections between our citizens to which I have referred already.

As we do so, the British Government and I personally as High Commissioner will continue to support a just, democratic and lasting solution to the Cyprus issue. Reunified, Cyprus can achieve even greater things as a country, and so can our bilateral relationship. So we will support the settlement process, which is our duty as a guarantor power and permanent member of the Security Council, but which is even more so our wish as a friend of the Cypriot people.