The parliaments of Cyprus and Ireland seek to further consolidate and enhance the relations between the two countries, their Presidents said on Thursday in Nicosia.
Cyprus House President, Annita Demetriou, welcomed on Thursday afternoon to the House of Representatives the President of the parliament of Ireland, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, who is paying an official visit to Cyprus, heading a delegation. In statements to the media, prior to a plenary session attended by Ó Fearghaíl, Demetriou expressed certainty that “we will be able through an enhanced cooperation to do much more and highlight, as required, the role and importance of the parliamentary diplomacy.” She also wished that this visit will be the beginning of a closer and more substantive cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries.
Demetriou said that even though this is a difficult day due to the death of Cyprus’ Labour Minister, Zeta Emiliandes, “we welcome with satisfaction at the House of Representatives the President of the parliament of Ireland and the people accompanying him.”
She stressed that this visit is very important as it underlines the strong ties between Cyprus and Ireland, which are based on principles and values.
Demetriou noted that the two countries are EU members states and have the same will to further strengthen dialogue and cooperation between them, especially in the framework of the parliamentary diplomacy.
She noted that they agreed with Ó Fearghaíl to increase parliamentary exchanges at the bilateral and multilateral level. “We have expressed our intention to undertake common initiatives and actions, in the framework of our competencies, recognizing that only through collective action we can face any minor or major challenges,” she added.
Demetriou said that she briefed the President of the Irish parliament and his entourage about the “worrisome developments as regards the Cyprus problem especially after the new threats and actions, the illegal provocations of Turkey, in the fenced off area of Famagusta as well as in the Republic of Cyprus EEZ.”
Moreover, she thanked Ó Fearghaíl and Ireland itself for their steadfast position of principles on the Cyprus issue and “our ongoing efforts to solve it.”
“We are particularly grateful to Ireland for its valuable support all these years, particularly at the UN Security Council, of which it is a non-permanent member for 2021-2022, and of course in the EU,” Demetriou added.
She noted that she reconfirmed “our firm commitment and objective to achieve the resumption of the talks within the agreed framework to achieve a just and viable settlement, according to the UN resolutions, a settlement that will be beneficial for all the legal inhabitants of Cyprus.”
“We exchanged views on issues of mutual interest, beginning with the ongoing war in Ukraine and its economic repercussions for all member states and all the world, and other broader challenges regarding issues related to education, the climate crisis, the immigration and so on,” she added.
Demetriou also said that they consider “that common initiatives and actions must be undertaken on all these issues, at the bilateral and the multilateral level, to address all these challenges.”
On his part, Ó Fearghaí said that the Irish delegation was delighted to visit Cyprus, noting that this is an educational mission, which is also consolidating the long-established good relations between the two island nations.
He noted that they very much regretted that their arrival to Cyprus coincided with the death of Cyprus’ Labour Minister,”who has made an enormous contribution to the development of this country and is highly regarded by the parliamentarians, much loved by the Cypriot people and has held a high esteem by her colleagues in the government.”
He said that in the course of their visit to Cyprus they have had high-level discussions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Interior Ministry, they have had engagement with the UN and have met Irish police officers serving with the UN.
“So, we will return to Dublin with a much more accurate and keen understanding of the issues that confront us and of the practical areas in which we can begin to immediately cooperate”, he added citing as such areas educational exchanges, the use of the “Erasmus” programme in order to have more students from Ireland coming to Cyprus and more Cypriot students going to Ireland, the food and beverages area, aviation and airport management.
Ó Fearghaí said that he extended an invitation to Demetriou to visit Ireland with a delegation next year, “because we are determined that this will not be a one-off event. This is something that is about consolidating and building and moving forward with a very special relationship between Ireland and Cyprus. And we will hopefully have results to demonstrate to you when you come to Ireland next year and we will take that forward one step after that visit,” he added.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results.
Source: Cyprus News Agency