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The President of the Republic, Mr. Nicos Christodoulides, who attended a working lunch hosted by the Embassy of Sweden on the occasion of the end of the country's Presidency of the European Council for the Ambassadors of the EU Member States in Nicosia.
In his speech at the working lunch, President Christodoulides referred, inter alia, to the achievements of the Swedish Presidency, including the adoption of the 10th and 11th package of sanctions against Russia and the important agreement reached on the Migration and Asylum Pact.
He also said that he was actively involved during Cyprus' first EU Presidency in 2012 and noted that he believes that the next one in 2026 will be one of the most important milestones of his mandate, underlining that his intention is to appoint in the coming months a Deputy Minister in charge of the EU Presidency.
Regarding the situation in Ukraine, the President of the Republic said that it is absolutely important that the EU continues to support the heroic people of Ukraine and to be at the forefront of the implementation of international law.
Referring to the migration issue, the President of the Republic said that Cyprus is the member state with the highest rate of migratory flows in proportion to its population, adding that many flows are from the occupied territories controlled by Turkey.
The Government, he said, is determined to take all necessary measures, including to improve the reception infrastructure for asylum seekers and to speed up the procedures for examining applications.
With regard to the Cyprus problem, the President of the Republic said that its resolution is the top priority of his Government.
He added that since his first day in office he has taken steps to break the deadlock and resume negotiations.
He stressed that the current situation cannot be a viable solution, underlining the need for an immediate resumption of negotiations within the agreed framework, and from where they were interrupted in Crans-Montana.
This should be done soon, using the window of opportunity that exists after the elections in Turkey, he said.
Finally, he pointed out that his proposal for more active EU involvement in efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem does not involve changing the framework for a solution, which is always the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and which are also the safety net against the Turkish two-state position.
(PM/MB/SX)
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