If the Republic of Cyprus were to claim the General Secretariat of the IMO, there would be no reason not to do so, President of the Republic Mr.
In his statements on the sidelines of the IOC Awards ceremony and when asked to comment on the reaction of the former Deputy Minister of Shipping Mr. Vassilis Demetriades on the Government's management of the IMO General Secretariat, the President said that "if there was any possibility of the Republic of Cyprus claiming the post of IMO Secretary General with Mr Demetriades, can you imagine any reason why we should not do so? Among many other facts, if we achieved such a goal, who would be favoured?
It would be welcomed that the Government - because it is Governments that vote - achieved such a goal. So, there was no such possibility, we don't approach such issues from any other point of view than the fact of achieving our objectives."
Asked to comment on Demetriades' mention that he had evidence that he could provide, the President said that "we have a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have Diplomatic Missions, there are discussions, exchange of support on many things, it's all taken into account. And if there was that possibility, why not claim it? Among other things, our own Government would benefit from such a development. I do not know how others approach such issues, but we do not approach such issues with the edge that some people want to leave. We are interested in the Republic of Cyprus achieving its objectives. I know Vassilis very well, we are friends with Vassilis, I know very well, in general, about his return to Cyprus, his presence which was successful in the Deputy Ministry of Shipping, so there is absolutely no problem."
Asked to refer to his meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister today and his statements on the initiative in the Cyprus problem, the President said: "He was clear. We discussed specifically, in the context of our own efforts to engage the EU more actively, and we welcome the fact that Spain is the presidency, has excellent relations with Turkey, its presidency has a role to play in many issues, among which is agenda-setting. I think it was a very good debate, a very good exchange of views, we are focusing on the next steps. It is the time for diplomacy."
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