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The President of the Republic Mr.Nikos Christodoulides and the President of Germany Mr.Frank-Walter Steinmeier answered journalists' questions after their meeting today in the framework of the German President's official visit to Cyprus.
Asked how he assesses the possibilities of a Cyprus settlement, President Steinmeier said, speaking through an interpreter, "Over the last many decades, and I can assess this through my previous qualities, there were optimistic phases when we could hope for a better situation. But politics has a duty to try what seems impossible. That is why I am grateful to President Christodoulides who has made the resolution of the Cyprus problem a priority and has the support of the United Nations (UN). And we will support the UN, but other European countries will do the same."
In response to a question about the prospects for a no-casualty resolution of the Cyprus problem and how ready the Cypriot people are, President Christodoulides said: "The resolution of the Cyprus problem has been a key priority since the day I took office and I am glad that it is recognized by the German President and by the international community and by the Secretary General (SG) of the United Nations (UN), since the appointment of the personal envoy was also the result of our own persistent efforts."
The current state of affairs cannot be the solution to the Cyprus problem and I believe that we all understand this dimension. I strongly believe that the overwhelming majority of the Cypriot people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, want reunification, a solution on the basis of the agreed framework.
The message that I conveyed is that in this context we believe that the engagement of the European Union (EU) will be catalytic in achieving the Cyprus settlement is up to Ankara, and we believe that the EU, by acting in a supportive way to the UN effort, precisely because it has the tools, precisely because it has the means, in the context of Euro-Turkish relations, can, yes, lead us to a mutually beneficial state of affairs through the Cyprus settlement, for Cyprus, for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, for our region, for the EU's relations with Turkey.
And in this direction, we are ready to work with all our partners including Germany, which has excellent relations with Turkey, in order to achieve the goal of a Cyprus settlement, which I believe - if I did not believe it, I would not invest so much - that it is an achievable goal."
Asked whether this is the time for Europe to be more practically in solidarity with the countries facing the greatest migratory burden, but also to make changes to deal with the issue in a more rational way, the German president said: "Clearly the migration situation in Cyprus is a big challenge, we understand that and we admit that Cyprus, with the large number of illegal arrivals of applicants, is heavily burdened and needs support from both Germany and the EU."
But it was said that the relations between Cyprus and Germany are special. In the framework of the European Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism, we have cooperated intensively and successfully and transferred 1,000 asylum seekers from Cyprus to Germany. This is solidarity in action at European level. This is not enough. It is a major European challenge that requires extraordinary solutions.
The EU Council has agreed on questions that were open in the past regarding the Common European Asylum System. We have an intermediate target and we have to have a solution before the end of the European Parliament in 2024."
He also referred to the great efforts made on the Common European Asylum System and noted that an agreement has been reached with the Heads of State and Government.
He added: "I will visit tomorrow the accommodation centre for asylum seekers in Kofinou to get an idea of how Cyprus is dealing with this problem and how the EU can support."
For his part, President Christodoulides said: "From the first day in office, the present Government has treated the challenges of migration as a top priority. And I am glad because a year later our actions have produced concrete, measurable results that cannot be disputed by anyone, both in terms of people returning and in terms of arrivals and in terms of the timeframe for processing applications and many other things that have yielded results.
I would like to thank once again Germany for voluntarily accepting more than 1,000 asylum seekers from Cyprus. The EU decision was for voluntary sending and most of those sent from Cyprus were sent to Germany.
Also, as the EU we need to do much more on migration. The frontline countries are taking on a huge burden that they alone are not able to meet.
But if we really want to tackle migration it is not through funding or actions designed to tackle the phenomenon. If we want to holistically end the migration phenomenon it is by addressing the root causes of migration. For that we need to work as the EU with the countries from which the migrants come.
There is another issue that I know there are sensitivities about from some EU member states: it touches on migration, but also on the EU's general attempt to play a geopolitical role. We as the EU ought to open up the issue of the situation in Syria. There are areas in Syria that we should look at whether they are safe and therefore whether migrants can be returned from those areas. I do not think that not discussing the situation in Syria is the right choice on the part of the EU. And the Republic of Cyprus, in cooperation with other EU member states that share this approach, we are working towards discussing within the EU both the issue of Syria and the situation in the region in general."
Asked why Cyprus is not exploiting Renewable Energy Sources (RES) as much as it could, President Christodoulides said: "You are absolutely right and it is a very pertinent question. We are making significant steps, especially in recent years. Let me tell you that today we have 50% production from RES. Unfortunately, however, only 19% of our electricity mix is from Renewable Energy Sources (RES), due to the lack of storage capacity for RES electricity generation. It is for this reason that within 2024 the Government will call for two projects, worth a total of around €80 million, precisely to develop batteries in which we will be able to store the energy produced from RES. It is an issue that - and we have discussed this with the German President - we want and desire technical support from the German Government as well."
For his part, the German President said: "In a moment we will talk with the Cypriot Minister of Energy and representatives of the economy exactly about these issues. Germany is open in terms of technology, especially energy, and we are ready and willing to share our know-how with other countries and we will address this issue when we return to Berlin."
Asked to comment on a report by Donald Trump, who said that if he is elected US President, NATO partners who do not pay their share in NATO will not get help from the US in case they are attacked by Russia, the German President said: "They are on the campaign trail in the US."
He added: "In October last year I went to Washington myself and spoke with President Biden and urged Europeans not to think that the election in the US has already been decided. I believe that the current US President is a NATO ally and has ensured NATO unity and this has lasted until today. We have every interest and interest that NATO unity - not only on this issue - remains strong. It is clear. We in Europe and in Germany must do our part to ensure that NATO is strengthened in the near future, irrespective of the new US President. This is not only me saying this, but also other representatives of the German government.
In relation to what we have heard from Trump, it certainly does not contribute to the strong position we want. These statements are not responsible and they help Russia - and they are certainly not positive for the alliance."
Asked whether there is an effort to revive Turkey's relations with the EU despite any problems and asked whether this should be done this time with more specific conditions for Cyprus and the Cyprus problem and what his view is on Cyprus' desire to appoint an EU envoy for the Cyprus problem to give further impetus to the process to move this issue forward as well, the German President said: "I am aware of the desire of Cyprus to have an envoy and also for Turkey to be more involved. The appointment, the sending of an envoy is one thing."
He added that it is equally important in Cyprus that it is often made clear to Turkey, regardless of who does it, that the attitude towards the resolution of the Cyprus problem has to be related to other issues of Turkey such as the approach towards the EU. "The member states must also send this message to Turkey."
Finally, asked what message he wants to send to his European partners on the same question, President Christodoulides said: "The Republic of Cyprus is a strong supporter of closer relations between the EU and Ankara, which pass through developments and the resolution of the Cyprus problem.
And it is in this context that we believe that more active engagement on the part of the EU - a leading role that will not replace the role of the UN, and I am glad that at Brussels level there are advanced concrete discussions and we will possibly see what the agenda of the March European Council will be, whether there will be a discussion on Euro-Turkish relations, we would like that, it is something we have responded positively to a question from Brussels - it will create those conditions through a more active and proactive involvement of the EU in the effort to resolve the Cyprus problem".
(PM/NYAN/MS)
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