University and government appointments Christodoulides lectured and served as a research associate in the Department of History and Archeology at the University of Cyprus; a Special Scholar, he taught on the "History of the Postwar World". Between 2013 and 2018, he served as Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic of Cyprus, and as Government Spokesman between 2014 and 2018. Minister of Foreign Affairs On 1 March 2018, Christodoulidis was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs, after the re-election of President Nicos Anastasiades. On 6 March 2018, Christodoulidis stated that Nicosia would not be swayed by Turkey's incursions into the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus. During a meeting on Greek-Cypriot cooperation with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, he said that the "number one goal is the reunification of the country." In May 2018, Christodoulidis officially asked the United Nations to prepare for a speedy resumption of the reunification process. After meeting Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias on 7 May 2018, he praised Secretary-General António Guterres for despatching a UN Special Representative to sound out the atmosphere for resuming talks. In June 2018, Christodoulidis visited Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin. They discussed regional developments and the strengthening of bilateral ties in energy and emergency situations. They also discussed Turkish incursions and strategic cooperation on the planned EastMed pipeline. In June 2018, Christodoulidis welcomed an announcement by ExxonMobil executives to speed up their schedule to begin drilling operations in Block 10 of the Exclusive Economic Zone. Operations, planned to begin in the fourth quarter of 2018, commenced in 2021. On 17 July 2018, Christodoulidis met EU High Representative Federica Mogherini in Brussels. They discussed the potential role of the EU in resuming stalled peace talks with Turkey. During his visit, Christodoulidis stated that Cyprus does "not have the luxury of a new talks' failure" and that "Turkey has to comply with European standards and international law." On 15 July 2020, he commented on the 2020 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, condemning the "ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan" and calling for "restraint of the parties to de-escalate the tension in the region". A Knight of the Holy Sepulchre since 2018, Christodoulidis was awarded the Order of the Serbian Flag on 5 April 2021 by President Aleksandar Vučić. Ministerial resignation and presidential campaign After months of speculation on whether he would run in the