The President of the Republic Mr.Nicos Christodoulides, who is in Brussels for the European Council meeting on 23 and 24 March, made a statement to the media upon entering the Council building.
In his introductory statement, the President of the Republic said the following: "I will start by saying that I look forward to my first appearance at the European Council today, with important issues on the agenda, be it Ukraine, energy, the economy, competitiveness, migration. After consultation with the President of the European Council, I will have the opportunity to brief my counterparts on the Cyprus problem, on this new approach, if you like, for a more substantial, more proactive involvement of the European Union. I must say that I am satisfied with what I have heard so far in yesterday's discussions with the Presidents of the three institutions, this morning at the European People's Party, but also in a meeting I had with the Prime Minister of Sweden, the country holding the Presidency of the European Union. What will happen is that this effort will continue so that with the conclusion of the elections in Turkey we will see whether it can be implemented. It is important for me that this approach is fully understood, that it is welcomed. What we have to do at this moment is to work together - and this is what we have agreed in particular with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council - to implement the decision."
Asked by a journalist whether more meetings with the institutions are expected between now and 14 May, the President of the Republic replied: "There will certainly be almost daily contact, either at my level or at the level of our partners, towards the implementation of this proposal."
In reply "At this stage the main issue is to break the deadlock. The deadlock can be broken through the leading role of the European Union with a personality to take on this role. If and when we succeed in restarting the talks, the European Union's technical presence is of course also imperative. It is something that the European Union itself wants. It is something that we also experienced during the last negotiating process, that it played a decisive role in reaching convergences that were in the interest of the entire Cypriot people."
In response to a question on the presence of the Secretary General at today's European Council meeting, the President of the Republic noted that the work of the European Council begins with the presence of the Secretary General, noting the following: "I look forward to a discussion with him, so that I can convey more specifically - following the discussion I had with Ms DiCarlo in Cyprus - our position. During the discussion in the presence of the UN Secretary General, where geopolitical developments in general will be discussed, I will stress the need for further cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations, and in our case also on the Cyprus issue, as is currently the case on the issue of Ukraine. After all, our proposal is not for the European Union to replace the United Nations, but for the European Union to strengthen the efforts of the United Nations. The negotiations are taking place within the framework of the United Nations and, as such, it will remain."
Asked by a journalist whether he will be present at all meetings of the European People's Party (EPP) from now on, President Christodoulides said: "Of course, this has been decided. It has been decided a long time ago, and I mean after my election and the communication I had with Mr Weber. It was important that today I was given this opportunity by the largest political group, the group that is characterized by its European orientation, the need for further integration, everything that our own government also embraces."
Finally, in response to a question whether he participated in the EPP meeting as an invited or official member, the President said: "No, participation is normal. Nothing different was discussed or said when we agreed, when Mr Weber contacted me. You remember even before the elections I mentioned that we had been approached by other groups. I chose to join the European People's Party. Thank you."
For the video of the President's statement click here.
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