An agreement providing for the presence of French forces in Cyprus for humanitarian purposes will be signed at ministerial level in June, President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides has said.
He was speaking on Sunday, 26 April, in statements to the media after attending the annual memorial service for Vassos Lyssarides, founder and former President of EDEK, at the Church of Agioi Omologites in Nicosia.
Asked whether an agreement had been reached during the recent visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Cyprus on the deployment of French troops on the island, President Christodoulides said that “indeed, an agreement will be signed at ministerial level in June, which will provide for the presence of French forces in Cyprus for humanitarian purposes — and we are always speaking about humanitarian purposes.”
He added that the agreement falls “within the framework of the enhanced cooperation we have with the French government,” recalling that Cyprus and France signed an upgraded strategic partnership last December.
“France is the EU member state with which we have the strongest cooperation at all levels, first of all the fields of defence and security,” he said.
The President also said that, within the SAFE framework and in order to make use of the €1.2 billion allocated to the Republic of Cyprus, the government is working to create “many synergies among French companies and the very promising Cypriot defence industry.”
He stressed that the agreements being signed “are not simply texts for a photo opportunity or for publicity purposes,” but “meaningful texts, which are proven to have results in practice.” As an example, he referred to “France’s immediate response when its assistance was requested,” as well as to the continued strengthening of relations “in substance and not for publicity.”
Referring to the recent informal European Council meeting in Nicosia, the President described as “very important” the fact that, for the first time, leaders of the region sat down with EU leaders “not only to exchange views, but also to see how we can jointly upgrade our relationship.”
He also said that ideas and approaches had been recorded, on which the European Commission would move forward “immediately in the coming period,” citing as an example the launch of discussions on concluding an EU strategic partnership with Lebanon, “along the lines of the one that exists with Egypt and Jordan.”
“It was not just a discussion. Specific decisions were taken, and they have already started to be implemented,” he stressed.
Asked to comment on reports that Turkey was annoyed by the informal European Council meeting in Cyprus, the President said he had seen “some comments in the international press” on the matter, particularly regarding the second part of the meeting, in which leaders of neighbouring states took part.
“For some time now, we had expressed our readiness for Turkey to also be invited within the framework of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and there was a negative approach on Turkey’s part,” he said.
The President said that, judging also by the current reactions, Turkey “possibly” did not expect “that there would be such a positive response from all the states of the region to the invitation by the Republic of Cyprus.”
(Source: CNA)
