Cypriot Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides said that coordination among states sharing the principles of democracy and freedom is needed more than ever to tackle the huge economic challenges.
Petrides attended the first ever meeting of the Euro area Finance Ministers (Eurogroup) in Washington and the Eurogroup meeting with US Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen.
In a written statement, Petrides described the meeting as a historic and substantive “due to the geopolitical and financial developments in the midst of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis and the need, more than ever, for coordination of policies to tackle the huge economic challenges among the countries sharing common values and principles of democracy and freedom.”
Speaking to the meeting, Petrides said as a victim of Turkish aggression, Cyprus stood by the side of Ukraine both in terms of financial support as well as its positive stance in the drafting and effective implementation of sanctions against the Russian Federation.
Cyprus follows a “position of principle as our country is victim of Turkish aggression, which occupies a large part of the island,” he added.
Petrides also stressed the need for coordination among the European states as well as between the EU and the US on all levels, so that self-conflicting policies would not be adopted.
He also called for a coordination on monetary and fiscal policies “which would be supplementary to each other with the aim of combating inflation,” as well as coordination over a possible energy price cap.
”Smooth flow of energy in Europe should be ensured from the outset while it be should be ensured that sanctions would not hit the one imposing them but the one sanctions are imposed on,” he said.
Source: Cyprus News Agency