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- Ελληνικά
A ship will leave Larnaca in the next 24 hours to take humanitarian aid to Gaza, President of the Republic Nicos Christodoulides said tonight, noting that Heads of State and Government, as well as Foreign Ministers, are contacting the Government to express their interest in participating in the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus.
In his statements to journalists, while attending the philological memorial of the hero Evagoras Pallikaridis, in Paphos, and asked about the "Amalthea" project and the latest developments on it, the President of the Republic said: "I express my satisfaction first and foremost for the fact that an initiative that we started in October with perseverance, we had a very specific plan which I first presented at the conference held in Paris, is receiving this international recognition.
Let me mention that in the next 24 hours the ship will depart from Larnaca. I cannot say the specific time for security reasons. We are in constant contact, on the one hand, with the states that supported this initiative, you saw the announcement. At the same time, I am delighted because we are receiving, after yesterday's press conference with the President of the European Commission, telephone calls from Heads of State or Government or from Foreign Ministers to express their desire to participate in this initiative themselves.
An initiative that is for humanitarian purposes, and what we always say, the Republic of Cyprus, as the European Union (EU) member state in the region that maintains excellent relations with all neighbouring states, always tries within its capabilities to contribute to addressing such challenges.
I believe that this is a development, always modestly and humbly, which proves what we say, that our country can, yes, be a core of security and stability in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region, a region of particular geostrategic importance.
But I want to repeat it, always modestly and humbly."
Asked about the issue of the 82-year-old man convicted by the court and the President's disagreement with the leadership of the Legal Service in relation to his release from prison, the President said: "Under the Constitution, the concurrence of the President of the Republic, but also of the Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General is required."
Let me reiterate my disagreement with my friends the Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General.
The court did its job, I am not interfering in any way with the judiciary. They did their job. Now it is our job.
It is on the basis of some data that I sent to the Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General.
I hope, soon, there will be - I mean in the next 24 hours - a development towards release.
It is a prerogative of the President on the basis of certain criteria, not arbitrarily.
We have a disagreement with the Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General, but we are in contact to see in the next 24 hours how the whole issue will develop."
Asked about his meeting with the UN Secretary General's personal envoy on Cyprus next Monday, the President said: "Yes, I will have a meeting with Ms. Holguín, she is coming from London, it will not be the only meeting, there will be another meeting. I understand that she will be in Cyprus for about a week, ten days.
We will have a meeting that will not be an etiquette meeting, we will talk very specifically. We have some thoughts that I want to share with her and I hope to be updated on developments that bring us closer to our sole objective, which is to resume talks from where they were interrupted as soon as possible.
I also discussed this issue at length with the President of the European Commission when she was in Cyprus.
We understand that Ms Holguín will also be visiting European capitals, including Brussels, to see the role that the EU can also play. And I hope we will soon have positive developments."
Asked how he interprets the reference by the President of the European Commission in relation to the Cyprus problem and that the EU will be on Cyprus' side, the President of the Republic said: "It is a very positive reference, of course I know how specific it will be, from the private meeting we had. We had the opportunity to discuss at length, I would not like to go into detail in public.
What I am interested in is the result and within this framework to do more work and say less in public."
Asked by a journalist to comment on the recent "scandal in the Church" and to a remark that AKEL asked the President of the Republic to clarify its position on this issue, President Christodoulides said that "there is justice and justice does not need the intervention of AKEL or any party.
A complaint has been filed, the judiciary has started relevant processes and the matter is proceeding, as in any other case."
He added: "It is not a positive development, we are waiting for the result, but not everything that sees the light of day is positive."
(PM/MS/AF)
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