Bilateral relations Switzerland–Cyprus

Switzerland and Cyprus have a long-standing tradition of friendly and diverse bilateral relations. Since 1964, Switzerland has supported UN efforts to find a solution to the conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. It is also committed to a reunification of the island, which was partitioned in 1974.

Treaty database

The balance of trade between the two countries falls in favour of Switzerland, which mainly exports pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery and watches, and mainly imports chemicals, precious metals, agricultural produce and machinery.

Tourism is a key economic factor in Cyprus: approximately 70,000 Swiss tourists visit the island every year. The Cyprus Swiss Business Circle, founded in 2022, organises public conferences and presentations to promote exchanges between the two countries on economic issues. 

Trade promotion, Switzerland Global Enterprise

Country information, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)

Researchers and artists who are citizens of Cyprus can apply for Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships to the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships for Foreign Scholars and Artists, SERI

From 2000 to 2004, Switzerland was a member of the UN delegation tasked with negotiating solutions for the reunification of the island. A conference on Cyprus was held in March 2004 at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland under the auspices of the UN. In 2016 and 2017, Switzerland hosted several rounds of talks aimed at resolving the Cyprus question on Mont-Pèlerin, in Geneva and in Crans-Montana.

Switzerland also provides regular support to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), whose mission is to recover, identify, and return to their families the remains of those reported missing in the intercommunal conflict and since the occupation of 1974. 

Cyprus receives funding as part of the second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states, which aims to reduce social and economic disparities in the EU.

As part of the second Swiss contribution, around CHF 5 million in project funding has been allocated to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus for bicommunal cooperation, to the Karaiskakio Foundation for the treatment of rare illnesses, and to the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family. The second Swiss contribution in Cyprus is also providing around CHF 10 million in funding to support projects in the area of migration.

Second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states

A wide and varied network of contacts exists between cultural institutions in the two countries. Swiss artists are regularly invited to perform at the European Dance Festival in Limassol, while archaeological cooperation and film screenings promote mutual cultural understanding. 

There were 520 Swiss nationals living in Cyprus at the end of 2024.

Statistics on the Swiss abroad

In 1959 negotiations took place in Zurich between parliamentarians from Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom on the future status of Cyprus, which was under British rule at the time. These led to the conclusion of the tripartite London and Zürich Agreements, which laid the foundations for an independent Cyprus. When the Republic of Cyprus was proclaimed on 16 August 1960, Switzerland was among the first countries to recognise it in its founding year.

Switzerland opened a consular agency in Cyprus in 1937, when the island was still a British crown colony. This was upgraded to a consulate general in 1983 before becoming an embassy in 1990. The Cypriot embassy responsible for Switzerland is located in Rome. Cyprus also maintains a consulate general in Geneva.

Cyprus, Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (de, fr, it)