HIGH COMMISSIONER OF THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS IN THE UK
AND
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION
KYRIACOS KOUROS
Ambassador Kyriacόs Kouros assumed his duties as High Commissioner on 2 April 2024. He officially presented his credentials to His Majesty King Charles III during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 26 November 2024. Additionally, on 9 May 2024, Dr. Kouros presented his credentials to IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, becoming the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cyprus to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Prior to his appointment, High Commissioner Kouros, from April 2023 until assuming his duties, served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic. Previously, he served as the Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic, in addition to his assignment as National Security Advisor to the President of the Republic and Head of the Intelligence Service.
Mr Kouros is a career diplomat who joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus in 1996. During his versatile career, he has served in different overseas posts and in various departments within the Ministry.
In 2012, he was appointed Ambassador of Cyprus to the Netherlands with parallel accreditation as Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
In 2006, he was appointed Chargé d’ Affaires of the Republic of Cyprus to Lebanon and in 2009 he was accredited as Cyprus’ first resident Ambassador to the country. During his posting in Lebanon, he dealt with two major conflicts and the terrorism wave which affected the country between 2006-2008. In this respect, he facilitated the evacuation of thousands of Cypriot and other EU citizens, providing consular assistance to those in need under life threatening conditions. For his service during this time, he was awarded the National Medal of Cedar of the Government of Lebanon.
Other overseas postings included Athens and Geneva. He was also appointed Ministerial Envoy to Libya in July 2011 and served from 1998 to 2002 as a member of the Working Group for the Search of Missing Persons from the 1974 Turkish invasion.
Prior to joining the Foreign Ministry, he worked from 1990 as editor at the Cyprus News Agency and from 1994 as Lecturer at the Journalism Department of Frederick University of Cyprus.
He is a graduate of the Law Department of the University of Athens. He has a Master of Arts in International Journalism from the Journalism Department of City University of London and a PhD from the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences of Athens.
He speaks Greek (mother tongue), English, German and French.
High Commissioner Kouros was born in Nicosia in 1963. He is married and has an adult daughter.