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- Ελληνικά
The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Christodoulides, extended an invitation to the Prime Minister and the President of Italy to visit Cyprus. Invitations which were accepted, while, as he said, it was agreed to create a roadmap aimed at strengthening relations between Cyprus and Italy.
In his statements to journalists in Rome, where he is on a one-day working visit and during which he had separate meetings with the President of Italy Mr. Sergio Mattarella and the Prime Minister of the country Mrs. Giorgia Meloni, the President of the Republic said: "I had two very productive meetings, both with the President of the country and a very long meeting with the Prime Minister.
Cyprus and Italy have many common and historical ties. We are in the Mediterranean, which has so many common challenges, for example, migration, which was a big part of our discussions, but also many opportunities to be seized, such as energy issues - it was the second issue I discussed -. What we agreed, particularly with the Prime Minister, was to work on the basis of a roadmap in the very near future to strengthen our cooperation, since we see that we have the same approach on many issues. What has been agreed with Albania, namely to examine asylum seekers who are in international waters in Albania, is a new initiative from which we see the positives that can come out. We have also agreed to take an initiative at European level, together with some other countries, which is related to the issue of Syria.
Regarding energy, the Prime Minister was very well aware of the developments. She is in direct contact with the President of ENI Mr. Descalzi, she knows that an important drilling is underway in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus, she knows that ENI is involved in seven of the ten licensed plots, and we agreed at European level to highlight even more the importance of the Eastern Mediterranean.
I am also pleased, in relation to the humanitarian corridor and the Republic of Cyprus' effort to create a maritime humanitarian corridor, that there is full support from Italy. In fact, the Prime Minister also presented me with two ideas for the more active involvement of Italy - that is, how it can help to implement this idea - and we will be in touch at the next stages.
We also discussed the European Union (EU). There are scheduled elections for the members of the European Council. There will be a new President of the Commission, a new President of the Council, a new President of the Parliament and a new High Representative. For all of this we agreed to be in touch, so that we can see, since we face - and we agree on this - the same challenges and have the same opportunities, how to further strengthen our cooperation.
And this road map of the developments we want to see in our bilateral relations will go forward immediately and I will be very happy - he accepted my invitation, as did the President - to have a working visit so that we can discuss all these issues.
Let me remind you that it has been 33 years since the last bilateral visit of the Prime Minister of Italy to Cyprus and I believe that the visit by the Prime Minister of Italy in 2024 will also send a new message about the common political will to strengthen our relations." Referring to Mr. Mattarella's visit to Cyprus, he noted that it will be the first time that an Italian President will visit Cyprus.
(RM/EAθ/MΣ)
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