23/03/2022 09:10
Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, expressed on Tuesday the solidarity of Cyprus with Ukraine and its people, as well as his support to the diplomatic efforts made to end the Russian offensive.
Anastasiades participated in a preparatory teleconference which the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, convened, in view of the forthcoming EU Summit, which will discuss about the situation in Ukraine, the issue of Energy, EU security and defence and other issues.
According to a written statement by Government Spokesman, Marios Pelekanos, the teleconference was also attended by the Prime Ministers of Sweden, Belgium, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Poland.
During his intervention, President Anastasiades referred to the suffering of the Ukrainian refugees and the fact that Cyprus is among the EU member states which receives refugees from Ukraine and provides the necessary help, according to Pelekanos.
President Anastasiades also referred to the imposed sanctions and underlined that right now attention must be drawn towards their implementation, noting that there are third countries, as Turkey, which have not abided by the decisions taken.
Pelekanos also said that the President stressed that Turkey`s refusal to align with the EU sanctions is not only selfish, but also undermines the pursued impact of the sanctions.
Given the fact that Turkey continues to occupy part of Cyprus, which is under its full control, Ankara`s avoidance to abide by the sanctions has a huge impact on Cyprus, Anastasiades said.
Furthermore, the President noted that the major issue of the food security, in light of the dependencies on cereals imported by Russia and Ukraine and the deficiencies that may emerge, Pelekanos noted.
He added that President Anastasiades agreed with the need of the EU leaders having an in depth discussion regarding the ways of effectively addressing the increase of prices.
The President also noted that Cyprus, in cooperation with other countries of the region, will be in a position to effectively contribute to the energy independence which the EU promotes, supplying the European market with energy, among others, via the electricity connection projects, Pelekanos noted.