The funding of the Lakes project as well as the upgrades at Pournara, the creation of the Green Line surveillance unit as well as the new EU migration and asylum policy, were the focus of a meeting today in Nicosia between Interior Minister Nikos Nouris and the representative of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) Beate Gminder.
In his statements after the meeting, the Interior Minister, after thanking Beate Gminder for the meeting, said that they discussed the funding issues of the various infrastructure projects related to migration in Cyprus. He said he referred to the "Lakes" project, for which Cyprus has submitted a funding proposal of 72 million euros from the European Commission and expressed the hope that there will be a positive response to cover the whole of this expenditure.
In addition, he said, we have discussed the issue of upgrades in Pournara, which is facing several problems due to overcrowding. For this reason, he said, the Interior Ministry explained that it has already used money from the national budget to install external fencing, improve the drainage system in the centre, and expand the housing units. However, he admitted that much more remains to be done apart from the fact that with the help of the European Union, the juvenile protection zone and the new medical centre have been completed. "But there are issues that need improvement because of the always overcrowding," he said."
Nouris said the next issue discussed was the creation of the green line surveillance unit, for which the Ministry has already submitted its proposal for the funding of this unit.
We also discussed, he continued, "issues of the new immigration and asylum policy that is being discussed these days under the French Presidency and of course all these issues are put under the prism of the Ukrainian crisis."
Mr. Nouris said that as a country we are grateful for all the support we have, noting that at the same time we recognize in the European Union that the crisis in Ukraine has created problems of liquidity and reallocation of resources. "We want to hope that the redistribution will be such that it will not be an obstacle to providing the required assistance," he said.
Mr. Nouris concluded by thanking in particular the European Commission Office in Cyprus under Ms. Zabarta for their guidance and cooperation in reaching all these agreements.
For her part, Mrs. Gminder expressed her pleasure to return to Cyprus and noted that since the last time she has been here, progress has been achieved on the part of our country but at the same time, the world has changed since the invasion of Ukraine. She noted that Russia's invasion has created a significant flow of refugees from Ukraine and has also created a high level of engagement in all member states.
"I would like to thank Cyprus but also you who have made all this effort to welcome people coming from war and take care of them," he said, while welcoming the many efforts Cyprus is making to improve the procedures of returning to their countries those who are not entitled to asylum and protection.
Cyprus has done a lot to increase the procedures, the flow and the engagement of third countries. "I think we can really see that you are developing a best practice model for other member states on how this is achieved," he said, noting that the EU is in a permanent dialogue with other countries on migration flows.
The EU official expressed her confidence that we are close to reaching an agreement to support Cyprus in the construction of the Lakes Centre, which will accommodate more people in decent and dignified conditions.
Finally, she expressed appreciation for the very good cooperation that exists with the Republic of Cyprus as well as the EU's support for the challenge facing Cyprus.
Source: CNA
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