Cyprus–Serbia relations are considered as strong, due to common European policies and the sharing of

Orthodoxy Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

as a common religion. Cyprus has been a supporter of Serbia in its efforts to join the EU. Likewise, Serbia has been advocating a stable Cyprus after the

Turkish invasion The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Arm ...

in 1974 and supporting a lasting solution to the

Cyprus dispute The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus dispute, Cyprus issue, Cyprus question or Cyprus conflict, is an ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north. Initially, with the Modern history of Cyprus#In ...

. Cyprus has an embassy in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. Serbia has an embassy in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

. Today, Serbia and Cyprus cooperate on foreign policy, finance, military matters and culture. Both countries are members of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Cyprus is also an EU member and Serbia is an

EU candidate The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Kosovo Independence

Cyprus is one of the five European Union countries that does not recognise Kosovo's independence. During its EU presidency, Cyprus has not changed its policy towards Kosovo and continues to support Serbia on its European integration course. The Cypriot Minister of Commerce assessed that Serbia should be given more time to fulfil the European Council and Commission's conditions set for commencement of the accession negotiations. If those conditions are fulfilled, Cyprus will continue to support Serbia.

Accession of Serbia to the European Union

Cyprus supported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade to start EU accession talks by December 2012. The Foreign Minister of Cyprus Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis underlined the Cyprus Presidency's priority on enlargement in a state visit in Belgrade in July 2012, including the Western Balkans region and Serbia.

Religious relations

The

Cypriot Orthodox Church The Church of Cyprus ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Κύπρου, translit=Ekklisia tis Kyprou; tr, Kıbrıs Kilisesi) is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communion ...

has had excellent relations with the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

, including acquiring and giving humanitarian aid to Serbia during the wars. However, these relations have extended also to the Serbian state. Regarding the latter, the Church of Cyprus has supported "Serbian positions even on the matter of the secession of Montenegro from the Federation", as well as supporting Serbia on Kosovo. Likewise, the Serbian Orthodox Church has supported Cypriot national positions on Cyprus. Like the other orthodox churches, the Church of Cyprus does not recognize the self-declared

autocephaly Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...

of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and considers it part of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Economic cooperation

Annually, the Cyprus-Serbian Business Association forums take place in

. The main objective of the Association is to provide effective and practical assistance in engaging and enhancing the economic and trade relations between Cyprus and Serbia. Another purpose of the Association is organizing various events including conferences and seminars in Cyprus and Serbia where business delegations from either country can attend and be advised on existing business opportunities by individuals.

References

External links