German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to travel to Cyprus on Tuesday for talks which will focus on the conflict separating the island for more than three decades, DPA reported.
It will be the first ever visit to the eastern Mediterranean island by a German head of government and is expected to focus on the Cyprus problem and Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
Her visit to the island comes one day after a brief stopover in Malta where she held talks on issues such as European politics and the state of the euro with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and President George Abela in the capital Valetta.
The visits are aimed at signalling the importance of good relations with the European Union's smaller member states.
Both Cyprus and Malta both adopted the euro currency in 2008.