In a statement to CNA after the meeting, Demetriou stressed that "we believe in diplomacy and peace" and that "war and the use of force can never be the answer. We, as the Republic of Cyprus, understand better what is happening, and that is why we come out even more in such cases two measures and two weights can never apply[/B] in front of all these issues and at the same time we stress that," she added.
"This resolutely persuades us to stand even more consistent in matters of principles and values because it is in this way that we can deal with such violations and such barbarities," she said.
He said that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss, mutually inform and coordinate on actions and initiatives to be taken regarding the ongoing situation in Ukraine, but also to address all the challenges that arise.
"It is very important in the context of cooperation and solidarity to see how we address common challenges and how we support each other," he stressed.
He added that "We are looking forward to the decisions from the Brussels Summit, we will have the Meeting of Speakers of Parliaments in Ljubljana, and we will organise concrete initiatives with the diplomatic corps to be able to raise awareness, to inform the public."
He noted that "one dimension that has been pointed out is misinformation, which is spreading on social media and not only, where there must be proper information and civil societies must stand together against the blatant violation of human rights and this brutality that is taking place in Ukraine".
"We hope that it will end as soon as possible, but at the same time we need and it is necessary to coordinate and cooperate on all the problems that arise, economic, social and other," she added.
Asked about the role of Cyprus in dealing with the situation[/B], Ms. Demetriou said that "we have been informed about what exactly is happening in Cyprus, both in terms of receiving a certain number of refugees - we are around 8,500,000 at the moment - and this is very important, as well as the humanitarian aid and medical equipment that we have sent."
She added that "we, in turn, have been informed that the other EU member states have taken similar actions."
At the same time, he said, "we are coordinating on the measures that need to be taken to address the economic and other challenges.
Asked about the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in this context, the Speaker said that "within the framework of parliamentary diplomacy, we are also trying in our role to strengthen this joint effort to deal with a very difficult situation, which we do not know how long it will last and how many other dimensions of problems or challenges will arise."
"Our only answer to all this is to be united and to work together facing all the problems," she said.
Asked about the refugee-migration issue, Demetriou noted that "almost all member states are taking the same actions, i.e. accepting all the numbers of refugees and that is what they have to do. At the same time, they give permission to stay and work in the country as well as some other facilities so that these people do not suffer more," she added.
He also said that "there is talk of a second wave which will be, assuming the war ends, maybe older people and people who are not related to these countries, because mostly now we see people coming who have some relationship with people who are staying in the member states."
"But we need to prepare for that as well. From what we have been told, many refugees have already applied to stay permanently in almost all countries, because they know that this situation will not end quickly or they don't want to go back to a bombed-out landscape," she continued.
She pointed out that "a specific directive has already been sent by the EU and I think it is very right that there is this response from all member states."
Demetriou also said that "we need to be careful and we need to think that these people are far from their homes, from their families and they need all the help that we can give them."
He also said that during the meeting it was stressed once again "that we as Cyprus understand better what is happening since after 48 years we are still experiencing the brutality of Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974, 48 years we continue to have refugees, we continue to have an occupying army and we have to deal with a somewhat similar situation."
It was also stressed that we need to be consistent in our positions on principles and values, he said.
Source: CNA
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