AKEL ON PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO EU

 

STATEMENT BY ANDROS KYPRIANOU, GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE C.C. OF AKEL

 

On the occasion of the President of the Republic’s visit to Brussels, together with a large delegation of government officials, we would like to send a message to him, but also to the Cypriot people as well.

 

We believe that the EU ruling circles’ approach that Cyprus is a developing Third World state in need of technical support, either from the IMF or the World Bank, is insulting which at the same time conceals many dangers and must not be accepted by the President of the Republic and the Government. The President must make it clear to the EU officials that Cyprus has the human and scientific personnel that can be utilised to plan and implement goals. Cyprus has above all the gains and traditions of our people that cannot be diminished by anyone. The Cypriot people do not want relations of dependency or relationships of subordination and subservience to the Troika.

 

Whereas the Government and the Troika express their satisfaction about the implementation of the Memorandum’s provisions, AKEL considers that this has the most negative consequences on Cyprus’ economy, on the working people and small and medium sized businesses and the self-employed. It undermines pensioner’s living standards, reproduces unemployment, increases poverty, leads to the confiscation of properties and is driving young people to emigrate. That is why our demand should be the implementation of measures to boost growth and our disengagement from the destructive there-pillar policies of austerity, cuts and privatizations.

 

Cyprus’ wealth belongs to its people. It cannot be transferred into the hands of a handful of oligopolies to satisfy the political demands of the ruling class in the EU and to put the burden of the consequences again on our people. This refers also to both the public utility organisations and our country’s natural wealth. The Republic of Cyprus can through collaborations exploit its potential to benefit our people’s prosperity and our region’s stability and growth.

 

The message Mr Anastasiades must convey towards the leadership of the EU is that the sooner it realises that a radical change in the policy of the Union is needed, the better for the peoples of Europe.