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Dear Minister, Dear Péter,
It is a great pleasure to
welcome you back in Cyprus. I believe this is your sixth visit to Nicosia,
and it is always a pleasure to have you here.
Of course, today's visit is a
bit different because we are inaugurating the Hungarian Embassy in Nicosia,
in reciprocity to the reopening of our Embassy in Budapest. And this, of
course, is evidence of the progress achieved over the last few years at the
bilateral level, and that is, of course, partly attributed to you
personally.
Today we had the opportunity to
have a substantial and fruitful discussion on a range of issues. I will make
quick reference to five of those on the agenda:
Firstly, bilateral relations.
As I have already mentioned, there has been a significant progress especially
in areas like education and tourism, and this, of course, has been built upon
the fact that we have excellent connectivity between the two countries. This
is important for people-to-people and business-to-business engagement. That
is a key factor that we will continue to facilitate, in order to make sure
that we have the space to further expand the bilateral relations in the
tourism, education and business sectors.
In addition, we had a very
important discussion as to the energy field. There is the common
understanding that the European Union and its member states need to increase
their autonomy in terms of reliance from sources of energy. Recent
discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean create the hope that there could be
a strong alternative, a corridor for the whole of Europe from Cyprus. We
expressed our readiness to promote co-operation with the exchange of experts
in relation to renewables, and, as I have already said, to the
diversification of energy sources.
Secondly, I briefed the
Minister about the recent developments as regards the Cyprus Question. I
expressed Cyprus’ appreciation for the principled stand of Hungary in
relation to the Cyprus Question, whether that is before the Council of Europe
or the United Nations.
Our position is very clear. We
are working towards substantive negotiations on the basis of a bizonal,
bicommunal federation with political equality, as provided by the relevant UN
Security Council resolutions.
We are at a critical
juncture.
The two-state approach and
equivalent rhetoric by the other side cannot be accepted. Not only for the
Republic of Cyprus, but also as regards the international community as a
whole.
To this end, as I have said, we
are appreciative of Hungary's principled stand.
I also briefed the Minister
about the ongoing strategy of Turkey and the illegal secessionist entity, to
normalize illegality by making the latter be seen to be part of the
international community.
We, the international
community, must not be misled. There is no other position than the full
commitment to the UN Charter. No halfway approach can exist. Zero tolerance
to the results of aggression and revisionism at all international fora. The
illusion of normalization is, in effect, opening Pandora's box for the
international community, and as such is not just about the Republic of
Cyprus.
Thirdly, we discussed issues of
common European interest.
This is pertinent in view of
Hungary's upcoming assumption, in July, of the Presidency of the Council of
the European Union and, of course, Cyprus’ Presidency during the first half
of 2026.
I was briefed on Hungary's
priorities, and once again, I express my sincere wish for a successful
Hungarian Presidency.
We also discussed issues
relating to EU enlargement and EU reform, and of course, issues relating to
the EU-Turkey basket, especially the Cyprus elements, which are an integral
component of that package. Solidarity between member states is, of course, an
additional element to the already binding framework.
Fourthly, we discussed the
situation in Ukraine. We reaffirmed our commitment in support of the
sovereignty, territorial integrity of Ukraine, always in alignment with EU
policy.
Ukraine is suffering from
aggression and an illegal invasion. Cyprus’ historical and ongoing
experience, for five decades, leaves no room for doubt as to where we
stand.
Finally, we discussed the
developing situation in the Middle East, post October 7th and the
terrorist attacks by Hamas.
We exchanged views as regards
the parameters of the conflict, including the immediate release of the
hostages, the immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the danger of escalation and
spillover, the loss of life, the humanitarian crisis, and the political horizon
for a two-state solution.
At this point, I would like to
express our sincere and deep condolences to the victims from World Central
Kitchen who have died in the last few hours in Gaza where they were trying to
help the people on the ground, and they paid a heavy price for that. This is
something that is extremely saddening for Cyprus. We have been working with
World Central Kitchen and we know very much the pain that this is causing to
them and to their families, and we are sending our genuine and heartfelt
condolences.
All the issues relating to the
circumstances should be fully investigated. But, in any case, we have to be
absolutely clear that the loss of life, especially of those people that are
there trying to help at the humanitarian front, is something that is completely
unacceptable and should be fully explored as to why it happened, and there
should be an accountability as well.
So dear Péter, once again, I
would like to thank you very much for the visit, for the fruitful discussion,
and I wish you a very successful EU Presidency.
(ΜF/ΝΖ/EP)
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