The President of the Republic Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, who is attending the Economic Forum in Delphi, addressed the conference this afternoon.
After his speech, President Christodoulides sat down for an open discussion with journalist Nikos Hadjinikolaou, who described him as a new politician on whom our nation rests many hopes.
The discussion was held as follows:
Question: Mr. President, how do you see the role of Cyprus and Greece, and by extension the European Union, to which they both look to as a pillar of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean region - which must be said to be the bridge between Europe and the Middle East?
Answer: Let me start by saying that the Eastern Mediterranean and wider Middle East region is adjacent to the European Union. It is a region of particular geostrategic importance. Many interests are at stake there, and as the European Union we must have clear objectives in the region, a clear strategy. The role of Cyprus and Greece within the European Union, as the countries that represent, if you like, the region in the discussions that take place in Brussels, is to highlight the importance of the region for the interests of the European Union. International attention today is rightly focused on Ukraine. It is focused on the consequences of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. This has led to international interest being significantly reduced in developments in the region, in what is happening in the Middle East and in what is happening more broadly in the Gulf countries. And here it is our responsibility, an even greater responsibility of Greece and Cyprus, who, yes, quite rightly support European policy in Ukraine, but at the same time to maintain interest in the European Union.
Question: Mr. President, I heard you mention energy in your speech. You mentioned natural gas. I want you to be more detailed, because this is the critical issue of the period in the contribution of the energy reserves of the Eastern Mediterranean to the energy security of the European Union. Is this an important security cushion that gives a new role to Europe?
Answer: Europe's greatest weakness in the current crisis with Ukraine, triggered by the Russian invasion, is its energy dependence on Russian gas. Certainly the Eastern Mediterranean alone cannot replace Russian gas. There are no such quantities that can replace Russian gas in total, but there are certainly those quantities that can mitigate the European Union's dependence on the Russian Federation. The European Union has already invested in the region and we expect that there will be more technical financial support from the European Union so that we can exploit the potential of the region which, according to the experts, according to those who know better than us, Europe's energy reserves can cover 15-16% of the European Union's needs in the next 25 years.
Question: Mr. President, this year I have been in journalism for 40 years, since 1983. I always remember writing about Cyprus and the Cyprus problem and I always remember that there was always an internal debate in the newspapers that the Cyprus problem does not sell, because it is a chronic issue, an issue that the nation has lost hope that it can be solved. So I want to ask you whether this is true or not. I will allow me, for the first time, to say with emotion that we are all Cypriots and we must say it out loud. We say it for Ukraine, we say it for France. We are all Cypriots. And I want to ask you if there is hope, real hope for the resolution of the Cyprus problem and what role its resolution would play as a supporting element in the stability of the wider region.
Answer: Let me first of all thank you for your comment, but also take advantage of the Prime Minister's presence here to thank you for the Greek government's support for the efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem. We spoke earlier about the European Union. The most important external success of the Republic of Cyprus since its foundation in 1960 has been its accession to the European Union, which could not have been a reality without the support of the Greek Government and the Greek House of Representatives. I just want to take this opportunity today to thank, on behalf of the Cypriot people.
Dear Nikos, regardless of whether the Cyprus problem sells or not, for us the non-resolution of the Cyprus problem is not an option. The continuation of the present state of affairs is disastrous for the entire Cypriot people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike. It is negative for our region and from our side we will do everything possible to create the conditions that will lead us to the resolution of the Cyprus problem.
It is precisely in this context that, if you like, we are approaching this new effort in relation to the need to resume the talks. Some time ago I was in Brussels. It was my first appearance at the European Council. I had previously had the opportunity to see the Presidents of institutions, expressing a new approach, if you like, in relation to the Cyprus problem. You know, we cannot change the geography. Turkey, Cyprus, Greece will always be neighbouring states. And of course we wish to have excellent relations with our neighbours. At the same time we know that without the resolution of the Cyprus problem there cannot be these excellent relations. And our new approach, if you like, is our readiness to discuss a positive agenda for Turkey and Turkey's relations with the European Union, in conjunction with the resumption of talks and the resolution of the Cyprus problem. Each subsequent attempt to resolve the Cyprus problem, the facts were clearly worse and the results of the negotiations were clearly more negative, especially for the Greek Cypriots. The first time in the history of the negotiations that the convergences achieved at the negotiating table were more positive than the previous attempt, it was the last negotiating process and one of the main reasons for these positive developments was the presence of the European Union at the negotiating table. And yes, we believe that with the European Union playing a leading role, always within the framework of the United Nations - we are not talking about replacing the role of the United Nations, we are talking about strengthening the efforts of the United Nations on the part of the European Union - I believe that yes, the objective is achievable.
Question: Mr. President, I will close by asking for your brief comment on the Greek and Turkish elections that are taking place a week apart and the impact that their results may have in the next day on developments in the wider region.
Answer: We are not voting in either Greece or Turkey. We are certainly very interested in the elections in both Greece and Turkey. But what I can say with certainty is what we hope for. We hope that through the elections there will be stability in both Greece and Turkey. For us, the main issue through the elections is that there will be stable and strong governments.
(PM/NG)
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