On 9 April, Ambassador Nicholas Emiliou presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as new Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cyprus to United Nations. Until his appointment, Mr. Emiliou was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nicosia from August 2008. Between June 2004 and July 2008, he was Permanent Representative to the European Union in Brussels, having previously served as Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from August 2002.
Ambassador Emiliou conveyed to the UN Secretary-General, on behalf of President Christofias, the Cyprus Government and the people of Cyprus, heartfelt wishes and expressed sincere thanks for the tireless efforts of the UN Organization and of the Secretary-General himself personally to find a viable and lasting solution to the Cyprus problem based on the resolutions of the UN Security Council and of the General Assembly. He also briefly informed the Secretary- General about the positions of the Government in relation to current developments on the Cyprus problem. Mr. Emiliou emphasized that Cyprus attaches great importance to multilateral diplomacy, based on rule of law and the principles of the UN Charter and that it also supports the central role of the UN in global governance, especially in the maintenance of peace and security
The UN Secretary-General thanked the Permanent Representative for the wishes and pointed out that his own personal interest and that of the UN in general, to find a solution to the Cyprus problem that will reunite Cyprus and its people, still remains strong. He also said that he looks forward to working closely with Cyprus, as a UN Member State, to tackle the many common challenges facing humanity from climate change to poverty eradication and the maintenance of stability and peace in every corner of the world.