President Nicos Anastasiades arrived in Prague on Wednesday for the European Political Community and the Informal European Council meetings to be held in the next two days.
According to a Presidency statement, Government Spokesperson Marios Pelekanos, who is accompanying the President of the Republic to the Czech Republic, said to the media that the Intergovernmental Meeting of the European Political Community will be held for the first time on Thursday, with the participation of a total of 44 Heads of State and Government, 27 from EU Member States and 17 from countries of the European continent, and aims to exchange views among the participating leaders with a view to creating conditions of security, stability and prosperity of the European continent as a whole, especially in the light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, including aspects of energy, climate change, climate change and other issues.
He added that the Cyprus problem will not be absent from the discussion, noting that in the afternoon of the same day President Anastasiades will hold a series of bilateral meetings with leaders of countries beyond the EU.
He also said that at Friday’s Informal European Council, the leaders of the 27 EU member states will exchange views on three pressing and interrelated issues.
First, the war in Ukraine will be discussed, focusing on the continued provision of economic, political and other support to the country, in the shadow of Russia’s recent illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory;
Secondly, he added, the energy issue and the primary objective of securing both the EU’s energy supply and the availability of affordable energy for households and businesses, particularly in view of the approaching winter.
The Government Spokesperson continued noting that the third issue concerns the economic situation, in an effort to find ways to best address the overall challenges for the economy of the EU and its Member States, in particular high inflation for households and businesses, and to support growth and jobs, as well as the protection of vulnerable citizens.
Pelekanos also stressed that in his interventions the President of the Republic will speak about all the aforementioned issues, proposing practical solutions for the benefit of citizens and businesses on a European scale.
He said that President Anastasiades will make a special reference to the potential of the Eastern Mediterranean, and Cyprus in particular, to contribute to Europe’s energy supply in this difficult context, stressing that the Turkey’s provocations cause problems not only for Cyprus, Greece and other countries in the region, but they damage European energy security planning.
Source: Cyprus News Agency