Exclusive — Cyprus President Appoints ‘Special Representative’ for Religious Freedoms to Protect Christians, Other Minorities in Middle East

The president of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides told Breitbart News exclusively on Sunday that he is appointing a new “Special Representative” of his government for religious freedoms to focus on protecting Christians and other religious minorities throughout the Middle East.

“Recognizing the critical importance of protecting religious freedoms and supporting minorities in the Middle East, I decided to proceed with this appointment,” Christodoulides said in a phone interview on Sunday. “We aim to work for the protection of Christians and other minorities through dialogue with states in the region and neighboring countries to strengthen their rights and promote sustainable solutions to the challenges they face but also to raise awareness in the European Union of this issue and to support the European Union’s efforts on taking under consideration the rights of these religious groups in our region.”

The appointment, per an announcement the government will release on Monday, is for Thessalia Salina Shambos — currently the political director of Cyprus’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the nation’s former ambassador to Israel — to serve as Special Representative of the Republic of Cyprus for Religious Freedoms and Protection of Minorities in the Middle East. The announcement of course comes right before Christmas, and is welcome news for Christians throughout the Middle East who have long faced difficulty but even more so now after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria and heightened hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Both Christodoulides and Cyprus’s Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told Breitbart News they look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio on religious freedom matters next year when they take office. Christodoulides was one of the first world leaders to speak with Trump after he won the election on Nov. 5 and served previously as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the second half of Trump’s first term. Back then, in 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Cyprus on his way back from meeting with the leader of the Taliban in Qatar as part of Trump’s push for peace in Afghanistan. Breitbart News accompanied Pompeo on that trip and visited the presidential palace with him in Nicosia.

“I will tell you what I mentioned to President Trump when I talked on the phone with him: Cyprus is a predictable, reliable partner of the United States in this region,” Christodoulides told Breitbart News. “If we work together, I think we can fully safeguard Christians’ rights in the region.”

The forthcoming Cypriot government release, provided to Breitbart News exclusively ahead of its public release, reads as follows:

Thessalia Salina Shambos, with proven diplomatic skills and experience, will work for the protection of Christian and other minorities through dialogue with states in the region, to strengthen their rights and promote sustainable solutions to the challenges they face, while her mission will assist the EU’s efforts to support religious groups in the region.

At the same time, the appointee will promote multilateral dialogue and inter-religious meetings to enhance the inclusion of Christian minorities in the region’s political processes.

The Special Representative of the Republic of Cyprus will also promote humanitarian and development assistance to religious minority communities, with a focus on health, education and victim reintegration projects. The protection of cultural heritage will also be a key priority, with the strengthening of actions for the restoration and protection of religious and cultural monuments. In addition, the Special Representative will highlight the diplomatic role of the Republic of Cyprus as a bridge between the European Union and the Middle East, building on its geographical, cultural and historical position, while strengthening European efforts to promote peace, tolerance and sustainable development.

With the appointment of Ms Thessalia Salina Shambos, the Republic of Cyprus reaffirms its commitment to support the religious communities of the Middle East, to promote regional stability and to showcase the richness of the region’s cultural and religious heritage.

Kombos, in an interview with Breitbart News ahead of the announcement, called Shambos an “amazing professional” who “has so much respect in Israel” and has been “very, very active and has been the driving force behind” Cyprus working with the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden to deliver humanitarian aid to the Middle East. Kombos also said that “honestly, we couldn’t think of a more capable individual” and that “she’s a very energetic lady and very-well educated and spent a lot of time in the U.S. as well” and “checks all the boxes and has the trust of this administration as well.”

Cyprus’s geographic proximity to key Middle Eastern nations, even though it is more culturally European, makes it strategically important for the West — both the European Union and the United States — in standing up to adversaries and engaging with this part of the world. Cyprus is just about 60 nautical miles from Syria and Lebanon, and similarly close to Israel. With the Islamic group HTS’s takeover of Syria and the fall of the Assad regime, Kombos said he has been “very active” the past several days including submitting detailed plans to Brussels to try to secure protections for religious minorities particularly Christians.

Worshippers light candles at the Armenian Orthodox Church in the Old City of Aleppo in northern Syria on January 6, 2022, as Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

“That as we understand of course has consequences in relation to cultural heritage and religious sites, protection of women and victims of violence — all those sentiments,” Kombos said. “Then as we’re thinking forward to reconstruction, humanitarian aid. So we want to channel the focus exactly on these communities and the sanctuaries there. In potential reconstruction support, they should not just be treated as part of the broader population in Syria. They need to get the support they deserve. Then this will lead to an expansion in a way. There are issues with minorities in many countries in the region, not perhaps of the same nature but they all deserve support. So we are the European country closest to the region. It’s a Christian country, with Maronites and Armenians recognized in our Constitution as religious groups and we are facing also the threat of not only what’s happening in Syria but throughout the region. Let me give you an example — Syria from Cyprus is 60 nautical miles. That’s how close we are.”

Kombos said Cyprus is very closely watching the new Islamic leaders in Syria and what they say and do with regard to Christians in the country.

“Even if right now they are saying the right things, one cannot be too cautious about the history behind these people and this group and their origins and how they have been funded,” Kombos said. “It all comes down to Muslim Brotherhood roots. That’s creating a lot of concern for the Gulf countries and for Jordan and for others. So it’s in the very early stages of development, but one should be careful not to take for granted what has been publicly advocated by some of the representatives. It’s going to be a test in the long run. It starts with how they treat minorities in our opinion.”

Interestingly, Trump — the president-elect in the United States — has called the new leadership in Syria an “unfriendly takeover” by Turkey’s Islamic government led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan’s government has denied Trump’s assertions. While Trump seems to deeply understand what is going on, there is rising concern that maybe others in the West who are celebrating the fall of Assad’s regime have not yet figured out these deep fears for Christians in Syria that Cyprus is bringing attention to.

Syrians christians pose for a picture in front of a christmas tree at the Saint Mary Church of the Holy Belt in Homs on December 20, 2024. (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)

Kombos emphasized Cyprus’s importance as the only majority Christian nation in the region as key to this announcement. Cyprus has deep roots in the Christian faith. An island nation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus is where Paul the Apostle went on his first missionary which many consider the first Christian mission in the Bible. Lazarus, who according to the Bible, Jesus raised from the dead to live another 30 years, spent the remainder of his life in Cyprus as the first bishop of Kition and is buried there per the Eastern Orthodox Church. Throughout the history of the spread of Christianity, Cyprus has played a key role including being under the control of the Knights Templar during the Crusades.

In the modern-era, the island is divided in two with Turkish Cypriots controlling the northern part and Greek Cypriots controlling the south even though the entire world except Turkey recognized the Greek Cypriot-controlled Republic of Cyprus as the legitimate government of the island. Cyprus is also a member of the European Union, but Turkey’s opposition blocks even the consideration of Cyprus for NATO membership.

“This is the only Christian country in the region, that’s number one. Secondly, we have excellent relations with Israel — and we have excellent relations with the Gulf countries like UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and so on,” Kombos said. “So what we have been thinking, especially after what happened in Syria, is that there this is no atlas here about protection of minorities, of Christians. If somebody wanted to do something about it, from the States, let’s say, they don’t know exactly where to turn to. So we’re providing an atlas right now. The president is going to be announcing the person who is going to be heading this effort and the whole point is to try and have a voice, to provide a voice for the minorities in the region especially in Syria in relation to how they can be included in the political process. And through us they can have a voice in Brussels in the European Union.”

Asked if he has a message for Trump, Vance, and Rubio in making this announcement, Kombos said that he hopes the United States continues to view Cyprus as a partner in the region.

“The message is pretty simple: Cyprus is here for working with the United States like we’ve been doing the past couple of years with excellent cooperation on military, security, and intelligence,” Kombos said. “The number one investor in our country right now is an American company, PIMCO. We’re very much focusing on the U.S. as a strategic partner and we want to expand on that. We’re trying to create another channel through this initiative protecting minorities so when there are discussions about inclusiveness in the political process in Syria and anywhere in the region all we ask is that the thought process include Cyprus because we could be useful.”

Kombos has developed a close relationship with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who has visited Cyprus and is a close Senate ally of Trump, in recent years. He is also close with Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS). He said he is planning a trip to Washington, DC, once Trump’s administration is in place “to be able to make person-to-person contact” because he thinks “it’s important not only with administration members but also with Congress members who have the same concerns and perspectives.”

Cyprus Minister of Foreign Affairs Constantinos Kombos attends an EU Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting in the Europa building, the EU Council headquarter on November 18, 2024, in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

Cyprus will lead the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2026, and Kombos told Breitbart News that the nation has some bold plans for emphasizing religious freedom and engagement with the Middle East on tap. In addition, because Cyprus is one of only a handful of EU member nations not part of NATO — again, because Turkey blocks Cyprus from joining the treaty — he mentioned some openness to some of Trump’s aggressive ideas for the alliance with regard to upping defense and security investment by European nations.

“We have the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first half of 2026. There is a set of priorities for each country that is charing that council,” Kombos said. “One of our priorities is an emphasis being on the Middle East, and this is something we will put into place in that we intend to make the region one of our priorities. Through that lens, we could be advancing initiatives on how we could deepen relations with the Gulf countries and of course with all the parties in the Middle East. In addition to that, we are also focused on the security dimension of the European Union in terms of defense and so on. So we understand there are various propositions from the U.S. in terms of budget commitments and so forth, so we are willing to push for that for a very simple reason: because we are not a member of NATO. We are one of the four EU member states that is not a member of NATO not because of our unwillingness to be or not but because of Turkey. So the better the security arrangements are with the U.S., the better it is for Cyprus security as well. So there is a bridge in our relation to that because we are willing to advocate for it.”