The European Week 2022 Conference and the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union (EU), co-organised by the European Parliament and the current French Presidency of the Council of the EU via internet, concludes today. The House of Representatives was represented by the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget, Ms Christiana Erotokritou (leader), the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance, Mr Andreas Kavkalias and the member of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget, Ms Savia Orphanidou.
In her intervention, during the debate on the topic "The Recovery and Resilience Mechanism and lessons learned for the future", Ms Erotokritou, first expressed her solidarity with the Ukrainian people, stating that Cyprus knows what it means to be invaded by a foreign country and occupy its territories as Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 and, by force of arms, is still illegally in the country. At the same time, Ms Erotokritou stressed that there can be no recovery and stability in Europe without ending the war in Ukraine and respecting international law. She informed that the Cypriot parliament has condemned Russia's invasion in a resolution and has fully aligned itself with the sanctions decided by the member states of the European Union.
Referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Cypriot MP said that it brought to the surface the urgent need for Europe to decouple from Russian energy, which, she said, comes at a time when the economies of the countries are vulnerable, as they are trying to recover after two years of pandemic. Therefore, she added, the parameters of the Recovery and Resilience Plan should be revised to take into account the new circumstances.
Cyprus, the south-easternmost tip of the EU, Ms Erotokritou pointed out, can be part of the solution or mitigation of the EU's energy problems. As she underlined, Cyprus' strategic position and its excellent relations of trust with all countries in the region, excluding Turkey, can be the bridge that the EU needs to achieve its energy goals with medium or long-term energy solutions.
Subsequently, Ms Erotokritou stressed that the EU's energy security will be truly independent if it passes through an EU Member State, while pointing out that Cyprus can make a substantial contribution to the EU's energy security by providing access to the energy reserves of third countries in the region through the energy agreements it has already concluded with its neighbours. In such a case, the Cypriot MEP said, the link would be fully European and therefore under the control of the EU itself and not of a third country, which could sometimes use the energy spigot to blackmail, depending on its interests, the whole EU and the economies of the Member States. The exploitation of Cyprus, he concluded, gives a unique strategic advantage to the whole EU.
(MB/SX)
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