The meeting held on Thursday morning, 4 May 2023, at the Legal Service, was described as very constructive, covering all the issues for which the European Commissioner for Justice, Mr Didier Reynders, is in Cyprus, by the Attorney General of the Republic, Mr.
Specifically, Mr. Reynders, who is in Cyprus for an official visit and contacts, met at 10 a.m. with the Attorney General of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. George Savvidis. George Savvidis and the Assistant Attorney General of the Republic Mr Savvas Angelides and their team, with whom he discussed issues relating, inter alia, to the European Commission's 2022 Rule of Law Report for Cyprus and the steps taken by the Legal Service to align and implement the recommendations contained therein, as well as the European Commission's 2023 Report, which is in the process of being drafted.
"We discussed the issue of the annual Report prepared by the European Commission on the Rule of Law, both last year and this year, and we explained to the Commissioner that as far as the Legal Service is concerned, we have fully aligned ourselves with all the recommendations contained in it", the Attorney General of the Republic said in his statements after the meeting.
During the meeting, Mr. Savides also referred at length to the efforts made by his Office to improve the ways in which corruption cases are investigated and prosecuted, an issue which, he said, is a priority for both the Republic of Cyprus and the European Commission.
Mr Reynders was also briefed by the Attorney General of the Republic on the measures taken in relation to the Cyprus Investment Programme and its termination, as well as on the actions taken on the basis of the findings of the Nicolatos Commission Report. "We discussed various other issues in relation to the actions taken as a result of the Nicolae Commission Report on the Cyprus Investment Programme issue. You will recall that we met with the Commissioner on the same issue in October 2021 in Brussels. During our meeting today, I informed and explained to Mr. Reynders what developments have taken place since then until today," the Attorney General said.
Finally, the agenda addressed issues of sanctions as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"We will be in touch on various issues that arose during our meeting and I am sure that the excellent cooperation between the Office of Commissioner Reynders and the Office of the Prosecutor General will continue in the future," he concluded.
For his part, European Commissioner Didier Reynders, referring to the resources that need to be provided to fight corruption, said: "Our effort is as we continue to work on strengthening the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, because we want to see more financial resources, human resources and digital tools available to the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic to fight corruption in the country. These are included, as you know, in all our recommendations. It is very important to show that there is substantial investment in such an independent institution so that the various investigations that are needed can be carried out with more resources available. We have seen real readiness [ON THE PART OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE] for further steps and we will continue to discuss this issue in the future."[/P REYNDERS CONTINUED HIS REMARKS BY REFERRING TO THE ISSUE OF SANCTIONS IMPOSED ON RUSSIA AND THE FREEZING OF ASSETS OF OLIGARCHS, NOTING THE IMPORTANCE THE EU ATTACHES TO THE SANCTIONS BEING IMPLEMENTED.
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