The President of the Republic Mr. Nicos Christodoulides, accompanied by members of the Council of Ministers, laid a wreath at the Prisoner's Memorial this morning, and subsequently signed the visitors' book of the Prisoner's Memorial and visited a book exhibition dedicated to the struggles of EOKA ʼ55-ʼ59, which is on display in an adjacent area.
Then, in his statements to journalists, President Christodoulides said that "it is no coincidence that my first act was to visit the Prisoner's Memorials, a due tribute to all those who sacrificed for the existence of the Republic of Cyprus today.
I truly believe, beyond the need, yes, to honour the memory of all those who sacrificed, that it is through our daily actions, through our actions that we show that we take the messages from their sacrifice. I repeat, ceremonies are very important, but more importantly, for me, and the only way to show that we truly honor the memory of all those who sacrificed is through our daily way of life.
And especially for all of us, for me personally, but also for the entire Council of Ministers, who have been entrusted by the Cypriot people to govern the country, we must show through our daily decisions, our daily actions, that we honour all of them."
Asked about how he will proceed with regard to the Cyprus problem, the President of the Republic said that "as we know, our effort is focused on breaking the deadlock.
We know very well the difficulties, we know the facts, we know what the positions of the other side are, but this does not satisfy us. We are not going to sit on our hands because of the intransigence of the Turkish side.
We will do everything possible from our side to break the deadlock and in this effort we are investing particularly in the EU, which through a leading role, always within the framework of the United Nations, can create the facts so that all parties involved understand the benefits that will result from a solution to the Cyprus problem.
The first stop is the European Council on 23 March, I will be in Brussels, I will have the opportunity to talk with the UN Secretary General, but also with the Presidents of the three EU institutions, with some other European leaders, on the basis of our own plan, we have prepared our plan, we will share it with some of the European leaders, so that we can work towards breaking the deadlock.
We should not wait for the Turkish elections, we should not waste time, I don't even know what will happen in Turkey, considering the situation after the earthquakes, and that is why we have been working from day one in the direction I have described."
Asked if the document on EU engagement is ready, the President said "yes, it is ready, it has been prepared, I am discussing it with my colleagues and I will share it with some people with whom I have contacts".
Asked to refer to the tragic train accident in Greece, in which two Cypriots are still missing, the President of the Republic said that "it is an unspeakable tragedy, it is something that we are watching every day and, if you like, it is also a message for our governance, for every governance in every country, that all those actions should be taken beforehand so that such tragic developments can be avoided.
As I am informed it is due to human error. It is a tragedy. There are two of our compatriots, we are in contact with the families. Yesterday the Foreign Minister, on my instructions, spoke with the families of our two compatriots. Both our Embassy in Athens and the Consulate General in Thessaloniki are with them and we hope to have news of the situation as soon as possible."
It is noted that in the visitors' book, the President wrote the following. It is a tribute to all those who fought for the Republic of Cyprus to exist today."
(PM/MB/EXP)
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