Zelenskiy honours Cypriot Foreign Minister Kombos and ex-deputy minister Raouna with Ukrainian orders

Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy decorated Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos with the Order of Merit on Friday. He also presented the Order of Princess Olga to Marilena Raouna, who previously served as Cyprus’ deputy minister for European affairs.

The decorations

The Order of Merit is a civil award that recognises exceptional accomplishments in fields such as economics, science, culture, the military or politics. The Order of Princess Olga is reserved for women and recognises personal contributions to areas including state affairs, production, science, education, culture, charity and other social activity.

Related: Deputy Minister Damianou Travels to California to Promote Cyprus as Innovation Hub

RelatedDeputy Minister Damianou Travels to California to Promote Cyprus as Innovation Hub

Raouna’s response

Raouna said she was “deeply honoured and humbled” by the distinction. She described it as much more than a personal recognition and said it reflected the joint work of the Cyprus presidency of the Council of the European Union in backing Ukraine’s path towards Europe and in moving its accession negotiations forward.

She added that she accepted the award with great respect and admiration for the resilience and courage of the Ukrainian people, and stated that her commitment to Ukraine’s European course would not waver. Kombos has not yet made any public comment on the award.

Other recipients

Other prominent figures were honoured by Zelenskiy on the same day. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden each received the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. European Council President Antonio Costa was given the Order of Europe.

Accession talks under the Cyprus presidency

Ukraine formally began membership negotiations with the European Union while Cyprus held the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Neighbouring Moldova started its own talks at the same time. Raouna called the launch of negotiations a significant milestone when it took place.

She said that Cyprus, as holder of the presidency, had worked diligently, intensively and with perseverance, focused on achieving results, in order to bring about the start of the talks.