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The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs Anita Demetriou, held a series of meetings today as part of her visit to Paris. She was accompanied by the Ambassador of Cyprus in Paris, Mr. Pavlos Kombos.
At the French National Assembly, Mrs. Demetriou had a meeting with the President of the French National Assembly, Mrs. Yaël Braun-Pivet, in the presence of the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Jean-Louis Bourlanges, the President of the French-Cypriot Friendship Group in the National Assembly, Mr Laurent Alexandre, and the deputy representative of the French expatriates, Mr. Meyer Habib. Loïc Hervé, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces, Mr Cédric Perrin, the President of the France-Cyprus Friendship Group in the French Senate, Ms Samantha Cazebonne, and the Member of the Committee on European Affairs, Ms Pascale Gruny. Prior to her meetings with her two counterparts, Mrs Demetriou signed the guest books of the two Houses of the French Parliament.
Earlier, the President met with President Cédric Perrin and Members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces during a session of the Committee. She also had a separate meeting with the President of the France-Cyprus Friendship Group in the French National Assembly, Mr Laurent Alexandre, and Members Mr Meyer Habib and Ms Sophie Mette.
During the above meetings, the excellent level of relations and strategic cooperation between the two countries, based on common principles and values, was underlined.
The President expressed the appreciation of Cyprus and its people for France's long-standing support, as a leading European power and permanent member of the UN Security Council, for the efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, in accordance with international law, the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and European principles and values. Demetriou stressed our side's commitment to the objective of resuming the talks from where they left off in Crans Montana. The Turkish side's claim for a "two-state" solution cannot be accepted, Demetriou said, and Turkey's continuous violations in the EEZ and the territory of the Republic of Cyprus must be clearly condemned and the logic of two measures and two stations must be avoided, whether it is about Ukraine and the Middle East, Nagorno Karabakh or Cyprus.
Both sides welcomed the strategic cooperation that is developing between the two countries in the key areas of security, defence, energy, tourism, trade and education and stressed their mutual will to deepen it further. The common vision of achieving conditions of peace, stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean region was underlined. From the French side, the important role of Cyprus as a pillar of security and stability in this volatile region was noted and it was stressed that Cyprus is a strategically important partner for France. In this context, sincere thanks were expressed for the facilities provided by Cyprus for the evacuation of French citizens from the war zone in the Middle East.
We must invest in more democracy and join forces to defend our common principles and values. We count on France's leadership in this direction, Demetriou said.
On the migration issue, Demetriou referred to the particular difficulties that Cyprus is facing due to the instrumentalisation of irregular migrants by Turkey and the flare-up in the Middle East. She also stressed the need to arrive at a common and clear position at the level of the European Union, based on solidarity and the fair sharing of responsibility between all Member States.
We must remain on the right side of history, the President of the Parliament said, and defend our principles and values and therefore the European construction itself.
In the afternoon, the President attended part of the plenary session of the Senate, during which the Vice-President of the House, Mrs Sophie Primas, welcomed on behalf of the President of the House, Mr Gérard Larcher, the presence of Mrs Gérard Larcher.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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