Cyprus Parliamentarians Harris Georgiades, chair of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign and European Affairs and Marina Nikolaou, Chrysis Pantelides and Kostis Efstathiou, members, are in Stockholm for the Plenary Meeting of COSAC, 14-16 May. An announcement by the Cyprus House says that during a discussion on the achievements of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, Nikolaou noted that European values must be based on the principles of international law and the EU must be consistent to this end. She said that the war in Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law and that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected and protected. She said that the territory of the Republic of Cyprus has been under the occupation of Turkey for forty-nine years. Nikolaou pointed out that at the same time that Cyprus is faced with the managing of large migration flows for which practical solidarity is required and called on the EU to end its tolerance towards countries that violate international law, human rights and that instrumentalize human suffering, such as Turkey. She noted that Cyprus contributed directly and practically in the direction of supporting Ukrainian refugees and the Republic expects the EU to show the same solidarity towards frontline countries, such as Cyprus, in relation to the flows of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa. Efstathiou delivered a speech on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Single Market. He said that issues related to the four freedoms, which today are considered self-evident, were a difficult task in the past adding that as regards to Cyprus, the four freedoms do not apply, as a result of the ongoing Turkish occupation. He said that as a result of economic development and stability, the establishment of a social network for the benefit of the European citizen is required. Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. Numerous rounds of peace talks to reunite the island under a federal roof, have failed to yield results.
Source: Cyprus News Agency