High-level contacts of AKEL with senior EU officials
AKEL GS meets the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 1st March 2017, Nicosia
The General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Andros Kyprianou yesterday had a meeting with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. The meeting, held in a very friendly and cordial atmosphere, took place within the framework of the visit and contacts which the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL is having in Brussels.
In the discussion they had, the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL conveyed our positions and commitment to the goal of finding a solution to the Cyprus problem. He explained the importance of overcoming the impasse in the talks and requested Mrs. Mogherini’s contribution so that the procedure can be resumed. Furthermore, he reiterated AKEL’s firm position for a solution based on principles and also explained our proposal for overcoming the difficulties through the discussion of the core outstanding issues, which must be discussed together and that whatever convergences are recorded on these issues will apply only if all the issues are solved.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini on her part expressed her readiness to take an initiative for the resumption of the talks and to hold a meeting with the two leaders.
AKEL continues its high-level contacts with senior EU officials
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 1st March 2017, Nicosia
The General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Andros Kyprianou today continued his meetings with senior European officials, within the framework of his visit to Brussels. Andros Kyprianou met with the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avraamopoulos, the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides, the Vice-president of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament Franziska Maria Keller and with the Socialist and Democrat Group MEP Kati Piri, who is also the rapporteur of the European Parliament’s Report on Turkey. Also present at the meetings were AKEL MEP’s Neoklis Sylikiotis and Takis Hadjigeorgiou.
The General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL briefed the European officials about the situation in which the negotiations on the Cyprus problem are in and conveyed AKEL’s view about how the current blockage could be overcome in order for the negotiations to continue under the best possible conditions. Provided that the leaders of both communities believe in the solution, he stressed, then they need to find ways not to drive the procedure to a collapse. The General Secretary of AKEL also underlined that AKEL was, and will remain, committed to the goal of the liberation and reunification of Cyprus, adding that AKEL will continue to make use of its ties and bonds with the Turkish Cypriot community, but also its international relations in the direction of an agreed, viable and functional solution of the Cyprus problems based on principles. Finally, the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL stressed that the European Union must fulfill its promises and contribute towards the finding of a solution of the Cyprus problem based both on the agreed framework, as well as in implementation of the solution.
On their part, the leading officials of the EU, with whom the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL met, expressed their readiness to contribute, each in their own way, towards overcoming the impasse and to the continuation of the negotiation procedure. They also acknowledged that, despite the difficulties that exist and due also to the situation in Turkey, the solution of the Cyprus problem remains a necessity for stability and peace in the wider region.
Today Andros Kyprianou will be a keynote speaker in the afternoon, together with the member of the Political Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL Toumazos Tselepis, at the event organized by the GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament on the theme “The Cyprus Problem: recent developments and the way ahead”.
