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- Ελληνικά
The appointment of an envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General is expected to come into effect from the 1st of the New Year, President of the Republic Nicos Christodoulides said today.
In his statements to journalists after the memorial service for the heroes of the Omorphitas community in Kaimakli, the President of the Republic, asked if he is satisfied with the decisions of the recent European Council, said that for some decisions, such as the opening of accession negotiations for Ukraine and for some other states, of course he is satisfied and that it was something that we as the Republic of Cyprus supported. He added: "But I have already expressed my disagreement and concern about the way some decisions were taken, as well as the fact that it was not possible to reach Conclusions on the Middle East issue. And although I acknowledge and support and actively participate in the discussions on the Ukraine issue, we cannot close our eyes and we are very right to do so - we are on the right side of history - and I cannot but regret that we did not reach Conclusions on the Middle East, either because there was no proper preparation or because there was no time for discussion."
President Christodoulides reiterated that "we are sending a very wrong message to the region. And it is for this reason that as the Republic of Cyprus I have spoken with some of our partners from the Mediterranean states so that we can try to organize something in the presence of our partners, our partners in the region, to start working for the day after the war. Because if we do not start talking about it, if we do not come up with a framework, with some basic principles, I am afraid that this situation will either repeat itself or continue. So, we have to come up with [A FRAMEWORK], it is the EU's neighbourhood, we have to, we have an obligation to play a leading role and that was the message I had sent."
In response to a journalist's remark that at the same time his proposal to create a sea corridor for humanitarian aid to Gaza is on the table, at the same time that the technical groups are meeting on the issue, the President of the Republic said: "Of course. Of course. A team of Israelis came to Cyprus, a new team will come in these days. We are ready as soon as there is a green light from Israel to send humanitarian aid. It is a tragic situation, especially for civilians, I think that much more needs to be done to protect civilians, there is no excuse for killing civilians and it is in this context that our approach is to provide unhindered humanitarian aid."
Asked when he expects the UN Secretary General's envoy on the Cyprus problem to arrive, the President said: "We are waiting for the Secretary-General's announcements. As far as I have been informed, the appointment is effective from the 1st of next year. We are waiting to see the Secretary-General's announcements. Immediately after the 1st of next year he will visit, I repeat as I have been informed so far, New York to meet with the Secretary General and immediately afterwards he will go to Cyprus. What I have requested, taking into account my previous experience from envoys, experts or personal, is the need for him not to visit Cyprus only for some 24 hours or 48 hours. He should come here, we should work together, of course he will visit Ankara, London, Athens, Brussels, and he should not spend all his days in Cyprus, so that the conditions are created, through discussion, to reach the desired result, which is nothing less than the resumption of the talks, always on the basis of the agreed framework."
(PM/NZ/ASP)
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