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I am truly delighted to welcome
you and your delegation to Cyprus and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This is the first official
incoming visit that I am hosting after the assumption of my duties as Foreign
Affairs Minister. This attests to the importance we all attach to the strong
partnership between our two countries.
Our talks today provided an
excellent opportunity to establish personal rapport and to exchange views on
pressing current affairs. Moreover, the overall aim is to discuss how to
strengthen our strategic cooperation. A cooperation that is deep and wide and
which has been reaffirmed today.
The range includes, but it is
not limited to, energy, defence, business, emergency response, healthcare,
and innovation. Furthermore, this strategic cooperation extends beyond the
bilateral level, to the trilateral with Greece. We agreed on our commitment
to expand this partnership and we have discussed concrete ways of doing so.
We also had the opportunity to
go through our joint energy projects. We agreed that we should advance the
opportunities and prospects of a reliable energy corridor from the Eastern
Mediterranean basin to Europe. This must be seen in the light particularly of
the unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine and the need for energy
diversification and increased interconnectivity. The projects of common
interest that our countries cooperate in, such as the Eurasia interconnector,
were discussed. They remain highly relevant in this respect.
During our meeting, we also had
a chance to exchange views on practical ways to strengthen the formats of
regional cooperation, starting from our Trilateral Cooperation with Greece
and the geopolitical value of our 3+1 mechanism with the US. We will revert
to these issues and the way forward tomorrow in our trilateral meeting with
Minister Dendias.
We both acknowledged that our
wider region is changing, as the unleashing dynamic of the
normalization Accords and the Negev Forum showed. In a dramatically
changing geopolitical environment, tangible cooperation is being built on a
common regional outlook and shared opportunities. Cooperation to understand
springing out of diplomacy and rules-based regional multilateralism, is the
wise way forward.
We also had a very frank and
comprehensive discussion on regional challenges that are at the forefront of
our attention. I expressed my deepest condolences to the Minister for the
recent terrorist attacks in Israel and our condemnation of such horrific acts
of terror, as well as any action targeting innocent civilians. As a country
that holds observer status in the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance, we also utterly condemn any, and all, manifestations of
antisemitism however and wherever they may arise.
Especially ahead of the
religious holidays of Passover, Ramadan and Easter, I relayed our concern
about the increase of violence, and underscored the importance of
de-escalation, and of safeguarding the historic status quo in the Holy Sites
in Jerusalem, including in the Christian Orthodox places of worship.
In this context, I commended
the recent efforts in ‘Aqaba and Sharm El Sheikh, and the crucial role played
by regional partners such as Egypt and Jordan, together with the US.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Israel is a critically
important partner in the southern neighbourhood of the EU, one with which we
share common values. Cyprus is a strong advocate of the positive agenda of
the EU - Israel partnership, as well as of sincere dialogue on key issues, on
which EU and Israel do not necessarily see eye-to-eye.
To this end, I reaffirmed
Cyprus’ readiness as a close friend and partner, to advocate in creating
a political horizon that would allow the resumption of direct and meaningful
negotiations with the Palestinian side, resulting in a viable two-state
solution in line with internationally agreed parameters. This must fully
ensure the security of the State of Israel. This is not, and cannot be
negotiable.
I also had the chance to brief
the Foreign Minister on the latest developments around the Cyprus Issue and
Turkey’s revisionist approach that regretfully ran contrary to international
law.
I expressed my
appreciation for Israel’s principled support on the Cyprus issue and
reiterated our long-standing position, which is that relations between
sovereign states are not a zero-sum affair.
Our partnership is
based on solid ground and not vulnerable to the influence of external factors
of political expediency. It is our consistent viewpoint that, once Turkey
lifts the impediments to solving the Cyprus Issue in line with the agreed
framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, we can
– and we will – develop good neighbourly relations thus benefitting regional
stability and security.
Dear Eli,
I wish to thank you for this
productive meeting. I look forward in continuing our substantial exchanges
and coordination in the future and to our trilateral meeting with Nicos
tomorrow.
Once again, welcome to Cyprus!
(MF/NG)
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