Interior Minister Nikos Nouris expressed hope that the parliamentary parties will have second thoughts and that the impeachment of the President will be voted for.
In statements after the annual commemoration of the 1955-59 EOKA fighters of the community of Chloraka, and George Azina, Mr. Nouris clarified that as far as the issue of the President's impeachment of the laws on the reform of local government is concerned, the reference is only to that part of the legislation that concerns the government's attempt to establish a cluster of Akama communities.
Obviously, he continued, " if the government wanted to create or project problems there are other points with which we did not agree regarding the passage of this particular bill," while adding, " we consented just simply because our country needs reform, we have all worked consensually for many years and therefore this effort can neither be compromised nor torpedoed."
He however pointed out that Akamas is something different and special, it is the country's national park and appreciated that the methodology followed on the part of the House was sloppy and effortless. He further said that just a few days before the vote, a proposal was tabled which not only does not serve the interests of the communities in the Akamas region, but it trisects Akamas by sending some of the communities to Peyia, some to Polis Chrysochous, while the community of Chloraka essentially remains outside of any municipality. One of the largest communities, he added.
Therefore, the Minister continued, "following faithfully what we had put before the Parliament, that is the technocratic approach, that is, that the municipalities should be viable entities, we believe that there should be a correction of this distortion." Subsequently, he added that it is with this very lens that the President is referring this particular bill.
I underline that it is not our intention to create a problem, on the contrary, he stressed, it is our intention to solve problems because Europe is watching us and Europe is interested in Cyprus to protect, the area called the National Forest Park and of course Akamas area .
On the other hand, he added that at the same time the communities of the Akamas area have every right to enjoy this asset called Akamas and it is this, he said, "which I believe we have achieved through the preparation of the local plan". Therefore, I want to hope that the parliamentary parties will have second thoughts and vote for the impeachment of the PM, he concluded.
Ukrainians - infrastructure
The view that Cyprus, despite the migrant overpopulation and the huge problems created in terms of reception issues, from the very first minute declared its presence in this call of the EU and unreservedly supported the European directive to support and provide facilities to the suffering Ukrainian people, expressed Interior Minister Nikos Nouris.
According to Mr. Nouris, nearly 15 thousand Ukrainians have arrived and are currently residing in our country , 5 thousand of whom about 5 thousand were legal residents before the Russian invasion, and the rest have arrived after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He added that a mechanism for registration of interested Ukrainians has been set up and is being submitted to the relevant services of the Ministry of Interior. Subsequently, he said, a card is issued to these people, which gives them the right to free access to accommodation, food, education, health care and the right to work for 12 months. Nouris "we have responded immediately" adding however that "the issue remains that the number is too high for Cyprus" and expressing the hope that "the support of the EU will be such - mainly financial - that it will enable us to cope with this problem". However, he reiterated that it is a humanitarian issue, since we are talking about a refugee population that has absolutely nothing to do with illegal and irregular migration and that is how we are dealing with it.
Migration
The Minister of Interior, referring to the management of migration that started in Chloraka, said that when there is synergy between the services involved, there can be good results.
We have never been extremists, he said, while stating that they have nothing to do with what some have tried to attribute to them.
But what we have an obligation to do, he continued, is to preserve, among other things, the demography and the cohesion of our entities.
"There must be a dispersion of migratory flows, there must be proper management and of course those whose asylum applications are rejected must be returned to their countries," he added.
Asylum applications are rejected for all those who belong to the group of economic migrants, he stressed, because this country has certain possibilities, which, unfortunately, we have long since exceeded.
As an indication, he said that since January 1, five thousand asylum applications have arrived and have been filed, a number that is much higher than in 2021, all coming from the occupied territories.
As Mr. He said that 95% of them come from the Green Line and of course they are all the product of instrumentalisation by Turkey.
He also explained that there is a response from the EU and the problem that Cyprus is facing is very well understood. He finally expressed the hope that "with the actions we have announced we will limit this phenomenon which does not only concern the Paphos District but the whole territory of the Republic".
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