PM meeting with President Anastasiades of Cyprus: 27 September 2016
Prime Minister Theresa May hosted bilateral discussions with President Anastasiades of Cyprus.
A Downing Street spokesperson said:
The Prime Minister hosted bilateral discussions with President Anastasiades of Cyprus at Downing Street earlier today.
The President updated the Prime Minister on efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus. The Prime Minister underlined the UK’s steadfast support for the process and said the UK stood ready to help bring this to a successful conclusion.
They also discussed Brexit. The Prime Minister made clear that the British people had voted to leave the EU and the government would deliver that – there would be no going back. The Prime Minister emphasised that while the UK is leaving the EU, we are not leaving Europe and we would want to maintain strong relations with European countries and the EU once the UK has left. The Prime Minister said that she hoped to be able to guarantee the legal rights of EU nationals already in the UK once we leave, as long as British nationals living in European countries receive reciprocal treatment. On process, the Prime Minister explained that we are currently preparing for the negotiations and therefore will not trigger Article 50 before the end of the year.
Finally, the Prime Minister thanked the President for his kind invitation to visit Cyprus and said that she hoped to have the opportunity to do so in the future.