Within November, he expects the completion of the report on EU-Turkey relations requested by the European Council, said the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulidis from Spain, while adding that the consultations for the appointment of an envoy from the United Nations are at an advanced stage and that there may be positive announcements in the coming weeks.
In his statements upon his arrival at the informal summit of the European Council, which takes place on Friday in Granada, Spain, Mr. Christodoulidis referred to discussions he had with the Presidents of the institutions, as well as with the German Chancellor and the French President , recalling that Olaf Solz “recently during his meeting with the Secretary General of the UN raised the issue of the need to make progress on the Cyprus issue, to restart the talks, so that the Euro-Turkish issues can also be discussed”.
“There has been contact with New York as well, and I believe that the mandate of the Security Council to appoint an envoy to explore the prospects of resuming talks is on track. There are consultations at a very advanced stage, and possibly in the next few days, in the next few weeks, we will have some positive announcements from the UN in this direction,” he noted.
At the same time, he pointed out, the report mandated by the European Council in relation to the Euro-Turkish issues is being prepared, which, he clarified, differs from the regular report on the accession process. “This report is being prepared, it will be completed in November,” with the aim of being discussed at the European Council in December, he added.
“So I believe that the appointment by the General Secretary will start the whole process, which we hope will lead to the resumption of meaningful talks, which will allow us to see other possible developments in Euro-Turkish relations” he added.
Strategic agenda
President Christodoulidis underlined that he considers today’s informal session particularly important, focusing on the discussion on the Strategic Agenda, which, as he said, “will occupy the priorities of the European Union for the next five years.”
He underlined that “the strategic autonomy of the European Union should be achieved as a preliminary goal, especially in matters of defense and security, in matters of energy and in matters of the economy”.
“This will be our approach, an approach which is also identified with the views and positions of other member states of the European Union,” he said.
The PtD also underlined the importance of the debate on further integration of the European Union. “The Republic of Cyprus belongs to those member states that strongly support the need for more integration, and if there is no agreement at the level of 27 we will have to see, those member states that wish to achieve more integration, how we achieve it” he noted.
Support in Armenia
Responding to a question from the CYPE about the role of Cyprus in the discussions held in support of Armenia, Mr. Christodoulidis noted that during the discussions that took place on Thursday within the framework of the European Political Community, “especially in the section where I participated yesterday and participated and the Greek Prime Minister and the President of Armenia and the High Representative, was the need to be coherent, to have a reaction from the side of the EU as there is rightly so in the issue of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine”.
“And it is something that is also related to the issue we mentioned earlier about the need for strategic autonomy of the European Union. It is important if we want the European Union to play this geopolitical role that we all say, to see it through concrete actions,” he stressed.
Regarding the role that Cyprus can have, he said that “we are a member state that knows the facts very well, there is this special relationship with Armenia, as well as (the special relationship) with Greece, and we are here for to help in this direction”.
Immigration
With regard to immigration, PtD recalled that there was also an extensive discussion at the meeting of the nine Mediterranean member states of the EU (MED9) in Malta, and underlined that decisions should be made “especially in relation to the generative causes of the phenomenon of immigration”.
“If we don’t deal with these causes, we won’t be able to talk about a comprehensive treatment of immigration and, by extension, alleviating the difficulties presented by the frontline states,” he noted.
Asked to comment on whether he expects decisions today during the informal session, PtD recalled that there have recently been positive developments in Brussels with the approval of the common position on the regulation to deal with migration crises.
As he said, this will allow the start of trilogues between the Council and the European Parliament, and as President Metsola also noted “that the relevant negotiations will proceed very quickly in order to reach the overall implementation of the Pact”.
“From there on, especially with regard to the external dimension, the issue of dealing with the generative causes of the phenomenon of immigration is the only thing that will lead us to a comprehensive solution to the problem,” he stressed.
