The President of the Hellenic Republic Mr Nicos Christodoulides participated today in a teleconference convened by the President of the European Council Mr Charles Michel with a group of Heads of State and Government of EU Member States.
The teleconference, which is the first of its kind in which President Christodoulides has participated since taking office as President of the Republic, is part of the preparations for the forthcoming European Council meeting in Brussels on 23 and 24 March.
During the teleconference, which was also attended by the President of Bulgaria and the Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg and Estonia, issues on the agenda of the upcoming European Council were discussed, including, among others, Ukraine, Energy, Migration, Economy, and the lunch of the European Council members with the UN Secretary General.
During the teleconference, President Christodoulides noted his commitment to the principles and values of the European construction, adding that he looked forward to his upcoming face-to-face meeting with President Michel and the Presidents of the other European institutions.
Referring to the meeting with the UN Secretary General, the President of the Republic stressed that he and the Cypriot Government are staunch supporters of EU-UN cooperation, including cooperation on the Cyprus problem.
He added that the lunch with the UN Secretary General will be a good opportunity to reaffirm our support for international legitimacy, particularly in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The President reiterated our country's unwavering support to Ukraine for as long as needed, stressing that Cyprus, as a country experiencing the invasion and ongoing occupation itself, strongly supports the need to respect international legitimacy. On this issue, the President of the Republic called for a strict reference to the Council Conclusions on sanctions, particularly with regard to their circumvention by third countries, as well as for measures to address this phenomenon.
With regard to Competitiveness, Single Market and Economy, the President of the Republic said that we all agree on debt reduction in a medium-term horizon through an approach that takes into account the specificities of each Member State and effective transparency and cooperation between Member States.
On energy, the President of the Republic welcomed the Commission's proposal for the reform of the electricity market. He also stressed the need, particularly for a country such as ours which is on the periphery of Europe, to speed up and complete energy interconnections.
On migration, the President of the Republic of Cyprus pointed out the huge problem facing the Republic of Cyprus, with 6% of its population consisting of asylum seekers, while he underlined the flows of irregular migrants arriving in the free areas through occupied territories.
Finally, it was agreed that the President of the Republic should inform the European Council of his proposal for a more active involvement of the European Union in the effort to break the deadlock and immediately resume negotiations to resolve the Cyprus problem within the agreed framework and in accordance with the UN resolutions.
(PM/MG/EXP)
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