|
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
The 4th
Ministerial Summit of the five frontline Member States of the Med 5
responsible for Migration, was concluded today.
I would
like to thank my fellow ministers for the constructive spirit of common
understanding in which we have handled the crucial issues and challenges
before us.
- In
these two days, we assessed the progress in the work on the European
Pact on Immigration and Asylum in view of the forthcoming meeting of the
Ministers of Interior next week in Luxembourg.
- The
five countries have today reaffirmed our position on the need for
effective protection of the external borders of the European Union,
including the green line which, although not an external border of the
Republic of Cyprus, unfortunately is the crossing point for 94 % of
irregular migrants from our occupied territories.
- In
addition, the issue of the instrumentalization of migrants from third
countries was discussed and the meeting confirmed its position, as it
was expressed in our previous interventions and, in particular, with the
adoption of a Regulation on the subject, which the Czech Presidency
promoted with the contribution of my friend, the Minister of the
Interior, Vit Rakusan, whom I warmly thank.
- At
the same time, today’s discussion has once again highlighted the concern
of all of us about the increasing migratory flows, to which the refugee
flows from Ukraine are now added. In Cyprus, the applications for
temporary protection by Ukrainian refugees alone, already reached 16788,
while 14152 such permits have already been examined and granted.
However, it is noteworthy that a total of 53589 Ukrainians arrived in
small Cyprus, out of which 39437 have already returned to their country.
- If
the 16705 asylum seekers who arrived in Cyprus in 2022 are added to these
figures, the government’s reasoning for taking effective deterrence
measures on the green line is immediately understood.
- With
regard to the need to show solidarity with the Member States, the Med5
reaffirmed our position that it is imperative to implement an effective
mechanism of compulsory solidarity in order to respond to the needs and
disproportionate pressures that our countries are currently facing. The
Med 5 are persistent with this position as they deem that the
implementation of solidarity on a voluntary basis cannot make an
effective contribution, particularly to frontline Member States.
- Nevertheless,
we can only welcome the initiative of Germany and France, which offered
the Republic of Cyprus the possibility of relocating at least 500
migrants to each of the two countries by the end of the year, with the
prospect of this number gradually reaching 1500, always to each of these
two countries.
- We
also welcome the continuing practical expression of solidarity by the
Vatican for the relocation of a number of migrants as well as similar
initiatives towards the Republic of Cyprus by Romania and Bulgaria.
- Also,
worth noting is the sensitivity of the Swiss Government, which is
assisting the Asylum Service of the Ministry of the Interior with the
amount of 10 million euros based on the relevant agreement signed
between the co-competent Ministers in Bern on 31 October.
- We
would also like to express our thanks to the Czech Republic for the kind
gesture of granting financial assistance amounting to 1 million Euros to
support the efforts of the Ministry of Interior Returns Office.
- A
Returns Office that, under extremely difficult conditions, managed to
return, in the course of this year, almost 5000 irregular migrants to
their countries of origin, placing Cyprus in the 1st place
among the EU Member States in proportion to its population and in the 2nd place in real numbers, as regards returns.
- I
would like to express my satisfaction for the inclusion in the joint
communiqué, of the recommendation of Cyprus on the need for an urgent
reassessment of those third countries that are currently classified as
unsafe and are the source of the largest migratory flows to Europe in
order to put an end to the exploitation of asylum systems by those who
do not really need them.
- To
us, the adoption of preventive policies must rank high among the EU’s
priorities. It is for this reason that we believe that consideration
should also be given to the possibility of modifying the asylum
application mechanism so that asylum applications can be filed outside
the EU, either in the countries of origin or countries of transit of
migrants and in any case, before they arrive on European territory, a
position which I intend to submit at the forthcoming Council in
Luxembourg.
I would
like to express my thanks to my fellow Ministers and their colleagues for
their presence here.
Many
thanks to my colleagues and especially to the Press and Information Office
for their professionalism and the excellent organization of the meeting. I
thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
(EF/EK/IK)
|
