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Anastasiades took part in teleconference ahead of EC

15/12/2021 08:30

President Anastasiades participated on Tuesday in a teleconference in preparation for the upcoming European Council Summit to be held in Brussels on Thursday December 16th.

According to a written statement by deputy government spokesperson Niovi Parisinou, the teleconference was convened by the European Council President Charles Michel and was also attended by Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin, Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo, Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Czech prime minister Andrej Babis.

The leaders exchanged views and presented their positions on the issues on the agenda, including the pandemic, migration, rising energy prices, security and defence issues, EU resilience, external relations (Belarus, Ukraine, Ethiopia and the upcoming summit with the African Union) and the economic situation in the euro area due to the pandemic.

President Anastasiades focused on migration, stressing that Cyprus faces a disproportionate burden due to greatly increased migratory flows. He added that the largest percentage of asylum seekers is systematically and in an organised manner pushed by Turkey towards the free areas through the occupied territories, according to the statement.

He also called for tangible and concrete assistance to Cyprus, both from the EU itself and the other member states.