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- Ελληνικά
Cyprus is not involved in any way whatsoever in any attacks or anything else, the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides
In his statements to journalists, arriving at the Arodafnousa house from where the Christodoulas march will start, the President of the Republic, asked about the meeting of the National Security Council, said: "You see the developments, the situation is very, very difficult. Our hope and expectation is that there will be no further deterioration.
We believe that a deterioration is not in anyone's interest. In such difficult times, the decisions we have to make are difficult. Difficult decisions which, however, are taken with the sole criterion of how to safeguard the interests of the Republic of Cyprus and the Cypriot people.
It is in this context that we met today. Following yesterday's announcements, we took stock of the situation, reviewed the latest information outside and inside Cyprus, and we will be in continuous session. We remain vigilant, everything is being done, we are monitoring the situation very carefully.
At 16:30 today I have a telephone appointment scheduled with the President of the European Commission. I will also talk to other European leaders and on Wednesday I will be in Brussels, where we have an informal European Council. The situation will be discussed. In this context, you understand, there is also the burning issue of migration, which is of great concern to us and I hope that some decisions will be taken.
It is for this reason that a group of states within the European Union (EU) is being set up on our initiative, calling for decisions to be taken, particularly on the status in Syria. We will see all this on Wednesday. We are constantly alert. The National Security Council is in continuous session and depending on that we will see what other decisions will be taken."
Asked if there has been an update from the British on the bases, the President said: "No, there was no advance briefing of the British, the Foreign Secretary spoke last night with the British Foreign Secretary and was briefed on the situation, but, no, there was no advance briefing."
Asked about his post yesterday that the processing of asylum applications by Syrians was suspended and what that meant, the President said: "It means that asylum applications for migrants from Syria will not be examined. We are in an emergency situation. These are difficult decisions, always within the framework of legality, which have a single objective: to safeguard the interests of the Republic of Cyprus, of the Cypriot people. And the Republic of Cyprus has over time shown its sensitivity to both refugees and difficult situations in our neighbourhood, and it is in this context that we are also responsible for the Cypriot people to take such decisions. I have been saying for a long time that we will take decisions that some people may not like."
He also referred to statements made today by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Justice on this issue.
Asked to refer to the measures taken at points of Iranian interests, the President of the Republic said: "All necessary measures are being taken, not only today. It was not today's decision, this decision was taken days ago. All necessary measures are being taken, there is a continuous assessment by the relevant agencies and we are in continuous conferences."
Asked if there is a possibility of Cyprus being targeted because of British operations from the bases, the President said: "Cyprus is not involved in any way whatsoever in any attacks or anything else. Cyprus - and our role shows it, last night, for example, planes came to Cyprus from neighbouring states, which will leave today of course and some have already left - our country proves in practice with many actions that we are not involved in any way whatsoever.
We hope that there will be no escalation of the situation and we do not believe that in such ways, through aggressive activities, any problems are solved."
(PM/MS/EATH)
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