Nicosia: France is a friend of Cyprus and a strategic partner, and its long-standing support on issues of vital importance, including the Cyprus issue, is based on shared principles and values, particularly its unconditional respect for international law, said Haris Georgiades, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Cyprus-France Friendship Group in the House of Representatives, at a meeting with a delegation from the France-Cyprus Friendship Group in the French Senate, which is visiting Nicosia.
According to Cyprus News Agency, Georgiades expressed his gratitude to the French senators for their contribution to deepening relations between the parliaments of Cyprus and France and for their steadfast support for Cyprus in European and international parliamentary bodies. He underlined the will to further strengthen the excellent relations and cooperation between the two countries at all levels, including the parliamentary level, and stressed the need for a strong France with a leading role for a strong EU.
It is noted that the meeting placed particular emphasis on the geopolitical importance of the Eastern Mediterranean as a region of serious challenges, but also of significant prospects for cooperation and development. Georgiades stressed, in this regard, that the EU must focus more on its Southern Neighbourhood, noting that the Mediterranean region will have a prominent place on the agenda of the upcoming Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Regarding the Cyprus problem, the Cypriot members of the Friendship Group expressed reservations about the possibility of achieving substantial progress due to Turkey’s continued intransigence. They stressed that the Greek Cypriot side seeks a solution based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, in accordance with the relevant UN Resolutions, the European acquis and international law. They stressed that Turkey’s actions and rhetoric, which even hinder peaceful regional interconnectivity and energy security projects, are incompatible with EU principles and cannot be tolerated. In this regard, they highlighted the need for the EU’s foreign and security policy to be based on principles and to operate based on conditionality.
The French senators expressed their satisfaction with the level of relations between France and Cyprus, particularly in the areas of defence, education, trade, and culture, and their desire to further strengthen exchanges between the two parliaments, as reported. They also reaffirmed the French Republic’s commitment to the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the rule of law, as well as their country’s support for the goal of resuming negotiations. They also noted that France is making efforts to strengthen the EU’s autonomy in security and defence matters, while expressing concerns about the violation of the principles of the rule of law in Turkey.
According to the statement, in addition to Haris Georgiadis, the meeting was attended by MPs Averof Neophytou, Giorgos Loucaides, Marina Nikolaou, Christiana Erotokritou, Chrysis Pantelides, and Costis Efstathiou, as well as Alexandra Attalides and Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis. The French delegation is headed by the Chair of the Group, Samantha Cazebonne, and includes Vice-Chair Didier Marie and Member Valerie Boyer.