The visit of the President to Moscow has been a positive step

 

Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 26th February 2015, Nicosia

 AKEL, based on the information it has received so far, assesses the visit of President of the Republic to the Russian Federation as positive and we hope it signals the upgrading of the relations between the two countries.

Moreover, AKEL’s appeals to the Anastasiades government to proceed in this direction was constant, given that the Russian Federation –  with the principled positions it upholds – remains all these years a consistent supporter of Cyprus with regards the Cyprus problem. The Russian Federation is at the same time a major economic partner of our country, despite the damage caused to this sector as a result of the decisions taken in March 2013.

Furthermore, we express the hope that this visit, in combination with the recent public admission of the President of the Republic that his friends and partners had once again tricked him, will signal the abandonment of the one-dimensional character of the foreign policy pursued by the Anastasiades government.

The replacement of the dogma “Cyprus belongs to the West” with the principle that “Cyprus belongs to its people” and that our country’s foreign policy must serve the interests of our people, is an indispensable and essential action, condition.

The abandonment of the government’s dogmatic position that Cyprus must stop seeking support from all directions and maintaining balances in our foreign policy, which has led it to pin all its hopes on the Americans and NATO, is of decisive importance.

In anticipation of an official briefing on the results of the visit and whether it will lead in practice to the restoration of the multidimensional nature of Cyprus’ foreign policy, AKEL stresses that it will continue to judge the government handling and policy options in good faith, but at the same time strictly.