An emergency meeting held at the Presidential Palace on Saturday morning, under President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, following violent clashes on Friday evening in Limassol by far-right anti-migrant protestors, acknowledged the police’s failure to address the situation and decided to quickly review and establish new operational procedures.
According to government sources, the meeting which lasted for almost two hours, accepted that Friday’s operational plan by the police had been a failure.
No official statements were made after the meeting, however sources said that it was stressed that there is a need to de-escalate the situation, in view of upcoming new protests, in order to avoid new clashes, with a focus on preventing any risks to public safety and the safety of citizens.
The meeting was attended, among others, by the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Anna Koukkides-Procopiou, the Minister of the Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou, the Government Spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, the Deputy Attorney General, Savvas Angelides and the Police leadership.
Speaking at the beginning of the meeting, in the presence of the media, the President of the Republic was particularly acute saying that he feels ashamed of Friday’s events and indicating that those who were responsible should also feel ashamed.
President Christodoulides added that the matter has nothing to do with the migration issue, adding that “the migration is not the problem and we know very well who are those involved in this”.
He pointed out that “we are not able to protect our citizens, we are not able to protect the tourists who come to this country”.
Source: Cyprus News Agency