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The University of Nicosia officially opened its new Athens campus on Thursday, with the leaders of both Cyprus and Greece describing the move as more than just an academic expansion but also a strengthening of the long-standing ties between the two countries.
The inauguration ceremony for UNIC Athens, located at The Ellinikon, was attended by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Christodoulides, alongside ministers, diplomats, academics, and local officials.
The new campus will serve as the University of Nicosia’s academic and research base in Greece, marking a major step in the Cypriot university’s growing international footprint.
Speaking at the event, Christodoulides said education has become one of the strongest pillars of the Cypriot economy and stressed that Cyprus is continuing to invest heavily in higher education and research.
“The education sector today is one of the most important sectors of the Cypriot economy,” he said, adding that Cyprus now hosts nearly 40,000 foreign students after years of efforts to attract international talent.
He pointed to the rapid growth of the University of Nicosia itself, which now has around 14,000 students from 100 countries.
“Today it is here in Athens,” he said. “And very soon it will be in other European capitals.”
The Cypriot president also described the expansion as another link strengthening the “fraternal ties” between Cyprus and Greece.
For many Cypriots and Greeks, the opening reflects something larger than education, a sign of increasingly close cooperation in business, innovation, and regional development between the two countries.
Mitsotakis, meanwhile, used the occasion to defend Greece’s push to allow branches of foreign universities to operate in the country, saying the goal was always to attract institutions with high academic standards and strong links to the modern job market.
“When we made this decision, we had in mind universities with excellent infrastructure, care for students, and studies connected to the future,” he said, pointing specifically to the growing influence of artificial intelligence on education and daily life.
He said institutions like the University of Nicosia could help turn Greece into a regional education hub, attracting students not only from Europe and the Balkans but eventually from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the United States.
The Greek prime minister also signaled support for future constitutional changes that could further solidify the legal framework for private foreign universities operating in Greece.
The ceremony brought together senior officials from both countries, including Greek Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki and Cyprus Education Minister Athena Michaelidou, underscoring the political importance both governments are placing on higher education partnerships.
For Cyprus, the Athens expansion is also being viewed as a milestone moment for one of the island’s biggest educational success stories and another example of how universities are increasingly becoming part of the country’s economic and diplomatic reach beyond its borders.
