Cyprus President to visit Lebanon amid refugee spat

President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides will visit Lebanon on Monday with a ministerial delegation.

On his one day visit to Lebanon, Christodoulides will meet with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Christodoulides had asked the head of the European Union’s executive arm to intercede with Lebanese authorities to stop boatloads of Syrian refugees from heading to the east Mediterranean island nation.

The EU is willing to give Lebanon more money to cope with the huge number of refugees it hosts, but “for this thing to happen, Lebanon shouldn’t allow migrants to leave and come to Cyprus,” Christodoulides said.