The European Union's Home Affairs Council has decided to activate a specific directive to protect Ukrainians coming to EU territory, but it also raises the issue of security and proper management of external borders, Interior Minister Nikos Nouris told the Cyprus News Agency after completing his participation in the two-day Council meeting in Brussels.
He said that among the Ukrainians who have already crossed into European territory "there are a number of people who should not have crossed the border", but "at the moment what is most important is the humanitarian dimension of the issue".
In particular, Mr. Nouris said that "Europe is experiencing an unprecedented crisis, and of course the Ukrainian people are experiencing a much worse crisis", but that Europe has shown, as it did during the crisis at the Belarusian border with the EU, "that it is in solidarity, that it is here to defend the interests of the Ukrainian people".
"The Home Affairs Council has taken very concrete decisions, in addition to the sanctions already decided, including the activation of the specific directive for the protection of Ukrainians," he noted.
"But through the protection of Ukrainians, the issue of security for the European Union also arises, and it is for this reason that there is a particular focus on how the EU's external borders are managed, particularly in the countries neighbouring Ukraine," he said.
"It is well known that among the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have already crossed into European territory, there are several who should not have crossed the border" according to Mr. "Nevertheless, at the moment what is most important is the humanitarian dimension of the issue, that is how we are dealing with it, and of course we will activate and have activated all the mechanisms to be able to ensure security in the European Union," concluded the Interior Minister.
"Nevertheless, at the moment what is most important is the humanitarian dimension of the issue, that is how we are dealing with it, and of course we will activate and we have activated all the mechanisms to be able to ensure security in the European Union as well," concluded the Interior Minister.
Meeting with Belgian Minister of Interior on DR Congo
Meanwhile, in the margins of the Council, the Minister of Interior had a meeting with his Belgian counterpart Sami Mahdi, responsible for asylum and migration issues, with whom they focused on the cooperation between the two countries on the settlement of flights for the return of DR Congolese citizens to their country.
According to a statement, the first joint return flight of DR Congolese citizens back to their country has already taken place for the first time, and the two MFAs agreed to carry out more return flights at regular intervals. The aim, according to a statement from Nouri's office, is to help Cyprus which has recently recorded an increased number of arrivals from the country.
Agreement signed with FRONTEX
Regarding the memorandum of cooperation signed with FRONTEX, the EU's external border management agency, the statement from the office of the Ministry of Interior spoke of an agreement to "strengthen the field of returns of those whose asylum applications have been rejected, which is one of the most important objectives for the Ministry of Interior in the effort to relieve the country from the excessively increased flows."
As noted, during the signing of the memorandum of understanding, Mr. Nouris thanked the Executive Director of FRONTEX, Fabrice Légerie, for the support of the organisation in Cyprus, and announced the creation of a Returns Office in the Administration of the Ministry of Interior "with the aim of maximising the use of the assistance that FRONTEX will provide, in order to simplify and accelerate procedures, but also to shorten times".
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