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Dear Roberta, I welcome you
today in Cyprus, here at the Joint Rescue and Coordination Centre (JRCC), on
what has turned out to be a very sombre day.
Early this morning we have
learnt the news of the deaths of seven humanitarian aid workers working for
World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza trying to deliver desperately needed
assistance. WCK is one of our crucial partners in sending much needed
humanitarian assistance to Gaza and on implementing the Amalthea Initiative.
I express our sincere condolences to the WCK and the countries which have
lost their citizens, and we call for an immediate and complete investigation
of this incident.
Dear Roberta, it has been six
months since your last visit on the island but, even in this short period,
the circumstances are now distinctly different.
In your previous visit on
October 1st, you joined me in celebrating Cyprus’ Independence
Day. Just six days later, a war broke out in the EU’s immediate
neighbourhood, across the sea from Cyprus. And the tragic events of last
night prove once again that this is not a regional crisis of limited concern
or impact. Its effects reverberate across the region and impact Europe in
crucial areas, such as security and migration.
The tragic events should not
discourage us. We must double down on our efforts to provide more assistance
as the needs dramatically escalate. We should also not overlook what has been
achieved so far and what it is possible when we persevere in doing what is
right; what is necessary.
In this context, I consider it
important that at the recent European Council we finally adopted conclusions
on the Middle East, because I truly believe that, as a Union, we should not
be mere observers to this crisis. We have a responsibility to act and we
should be an integral part of initiatives, together with our partners, to put
an end to the war and start a political process for a lasting solution, based
on relevant United Nation (UN) Security Council resolutions.
Dear Roberta, your presence
here today as President of the European Parliament, representing almost 400
million European citizens, is a strong message that Europe and its citizens
care deeply about the severely deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza,
and that they stand behind initiatives to alleviate the crisis.
With the Amalthea initiative,
Cyprus, as the closest EU member state to the Middle East, which has
excellent relations with all its neighbors in the region, aims to fulfil its
moral obligation to ease the suffering of civilians in Gaza. To this end, we
are working closely with our partners, including the United Nations (UN), of
course the EU, the United States (US), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and
others.
Safe delivery and distribution
of humanitarian assistance is a must. It is our obligation as international
community to scale up our efforts to ensure increased deliveries of
much-needed aid, and underscore in the strongest of terms that humanitarian
aid workers must have full protection in conducting their essential efforts
in providing food and humanitarian assistance. International Humanitarian Law
is crystal clear as regards respecting and protecting humanitarian aid
workers.
I want to stress once more that
the Amaltheia initiative is not a substitute to other routes, namely the
all-important land routes and the air drops. It is complementary to them,
with the sole purpose being to increase the provision of assistance by sea,
and to mutually reinforce all pathways, for sustained delivery of
humanitarian assistance to those in need.
We have already dispatched the
first two shipments with hundreds of tons of aid, directly to Gaza, through
close partnership with the UAE. Furthermore, in cooperation with partners and
stakeholders, we are working on rendering the provision of humanitarian aid
to Gaza more stable and predictable.
We also started working on the
funding modalities of the maritime corridor by activating the “Amalthea
Fund”.
I would also like to refer to
the US Government’s decision to establish a maritime pier off the coast of
Gaza, which should be operational very soon, and will allow for a
significantly scaled-up flow of assistance.
With President Metsola we had
the opportunity last night to discuss other issues of common concern.
As always, I briefed Roberta on
our continued efforts to resume negotiations on the Cyprus problem, including
my recent meeting with the UN Secretary-General in Brussels. We’ll have
another European Council in two weeks, where EU-Turkey relations will be
discussed. We are ready for progress on this file, in a step-by-step
approach, provided that Turkey engages constructively on all aspects of
EU-Turkey relations, including of course the Cyprus problem and the
resumption of talks based on UN Security Council resolutions, which is an
essential component of the relationship between Brussels and Ankara.
We also exchanged views on
migration. Here at the JRCC we monitor all sea traffic going in and out of
Cyprus. The number of Syrian migrants coming from Lebanon has been
consistently increasing in recent weeks, which is deeply concerning. I fully
understand the challenges Lebanon is facing, but exporting migrants to Cyprus
should not be the answer and cannot be accepted. Towards that end, the EU
should also stand by Cyprus in tangible ways.
Finally, we exchanged views on
the upcoming June European elections. I warmly welcome Roberta’s initiative
to visit Member-States in order to motivate people, especially Europe’s
youth, to vote. Increased youth participation to the election is a shared goal,
and a point I have been consistently making, including at a panel discussion
with Cypriot youth last month, and in my speech to students at the College of
Europe in Bruges two weeks ago. This year, when in Cyprus we celebrate the 20th
anniversary of our EU accession, increased interest and participation to the
European elections is a timely test for all of us, and a personal bet for me,
and we must rise to the occasion.
I take also today’s opportunity
to wish Roberta every success on her own candidacy for the elections, as I
firmly believe that she has done an excellent job and has been an exemplary
President of the European Parliament.
Dear Roberta, once again, it is
a great pleasure to host you and your team to Cyprus. The European
Parliament’s support on all the issues we discussed, but especially on the
Cyprus problem, and the Amalthea initiative, is extremely important and
greatly appreciated.
(RM/AP/IA)
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