Cyprus-Greece Relations: A Beyond-the-Stereotype Overview

This conference will explore Greece-Cyprus relations with a view to assessing and analyzing the continuities and changes therein that have characterized the past six years, as well as the effect on the two countries’ relations of the changing geopolitical landscape in their wider neighbourhood. It will be a platform for discussing the Greece-Cyprus ties from a critical perspective and in particular by going beyond the stereotypical.

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Greece and Cyprus have long had interrelated histories and recent developments in both countries have brought out new dynamics in their relations that are highly topical. Fellow EU members since 2004, both Greece and the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) found themselves in the midst of an economic crisis accompanied by important political realignments. For the first time in history, the RoC has had in government a party that describes itself as communist (2008-2013) and Greece is at present being led by a party that also describes itself as radical left-wing. In both countries, the political centre has become fragmented and on the far right new parties have emerged and entered the parliament. At the international level, Greece and the RoC declare to be united, especially in what concerns the Cyprus problem, calls for a solution of which have become more salient as negotiations continue between the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. Meanwhile, at a time when instability is the norm in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as southern Europe, political, economic and social parameters are changing in ways that have implications for the relations between the two countries.

The conference will explore Greece-Cyprus relations with a view to assessing and analyzing the continuities and changes therein that have characterized the past six years, as well as the effect on the two countries’ relations of the changing geopolitical landscape in their wider neighbourhood. It will be a platform for discussing the Greece-Cyprus ties from a critical perspective and in particular by going beyond the stereotypical.