Filenews 1 December 2022
Germany's solidarity with Cyprus on migration was conveyed to the President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades by the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz. During their recent meeting in Berlin, the German leader expressed his country's intention to receive 500 asylum seekers from Cyprus.
The President of the Republic briefed the German Chancellor on the situation of the migration problem facing Cyprus, asking for the help of the EU. According to reports, President Anastasiades during the meeting with Mr. Scholz did not just stick to the oral reports in relation to the state of the problem, but also handed over to the German Chancellor a file with evidence, which on the one hand substantiates the position of Cyprus and on the other hand proves that Turkey is instrumentalizing the migration issue.
The same information says that Chancellor Scholz described migration as a European problem and offered immediate German solidarity, with the receipt from Germany of 500 asylum seekers from Cyprus.
Both President Anastasiades and the Chancellor reportedly condemned Turkey's instrumentalisation of the refugee crisis, from which Scholz asked, as he stated at the joint press conference with President Anastasiades, to abide by the agreement with the EU, for which he said there is no better alternative.
At the meeting, President Anastasiades stressed the need for the EU to take effective measures to prevent the instrumentalisation of migration, both by Turkey and by any third country that exploits human suffering in an attempt to gain other political benefits.
The increased migration flows have made the Republic of Cyprus, by far the first in number of political asylum applications an EU member state in proportion to population, since in the first ten months of 2022 the applications had exceeded 18 thousand.
The burning issue of migration is among the Government's priorities, said government sources, who noted that all measures taken are in the direction of stemming the increased flows of migrants.
