The President of the Republic, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, attended yesterday, 15 December 2021, the Eastern Partnership Summit, which took place in Brussels and aimed at strengthening and further deepening the European Union's relations with its Eastern partners.
During his intervention, President Anastasiades expressed the unreserved support of the Republic of Cyprus to the efforts to further strengthen the Eastern Partnership on the basis of the common principles and values shared by the European Union and the Eastern Neighbourhood countries, including respect for human rights and international law.
He also praised the role played by the President of the European Council in the organisation of a bilateral meeting the previous day between the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan, which was held in a constructive atmosphere, opening a window of opportunity to resolve the problems of the two countries on the basis of international law. He added that, coming as he does from a country suffering from the illegal actions of third parties, our priority should be the restoration of international law in the Eastern Neighbourhood. He also supported the French President Emmanuel Macron in his view that the Normandy composition remains the best platform for settling the conflict in Ukraine.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the President of the Republic held a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Armenia, Mr. Nicole Pashinian. The President referred to the close friendship that binds the peoples of Cyprus and Armenia, praising the presence of the Armenian community in Cyprus. The meeting took place at a particularly difficult time for Armenia, as a result of the hostilities with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh region and border areas, with President Anastasiades stressing the need for an end to the conflict and the immediate release of all prisoners.
Subsequently, the two leaders discussed issues related to EU-Armenia relations, with the President of the Republic assuring Mr. Pashinian that Cyprus always supports the upgrading of relations between the two parties, mainly in the framework of the Eastern Partnership. President Anastasiades then briefed his Armenian counterpart on the latest developments in the Cyprus problem and the ongoing Turkish provocations within the Cypriot EEZ and in the enclosed area of Varosha.
President Anastasiades and Prime Minister Pashinian agreed that the two countries should speed up the ongoing procedures for the opening of embassies in Nicosia and Yerevan, respectively.
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