Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will participate next week in the extraordinary European Council where he will stress the disproportionate burden for Cyprus due to increased immigration flows as well as the instrumentalisation of immigration by Turkey.
In a written statement, Director of the Press Office of the President of the Republic Andreas Iosif says that according to the latest data from Eurostat, Cyprus is at the forefront, since in the last five years it has become the EU member state with the highest percentage of asylum seekers.
The President of the Republic will be in Brussels on February 9 to attend the extraordinary Summit of the European Council. The main topic on the agenda of the European Council is immigration and heads of state and government will discuss ways to address it.
Iosif says that President Anastasiades will highlight the disproportionate burden for the Republic of Cyprus due to increased immigration flows and will stress the instrumentalisation of immigration by Turkey.
He says that according to the latest Eurostat data, Cyprus is at the forefront, since in the last five years it has become the EU member state with the highest percentage of asylum seekers.
Iosif notes that according to Eurostat the percentage of asylum seekers and persons who have already received protection status amounts to 6% of the population of the Republic of Cyprus and that about 95% of immigrants enter through Turkey to the Turkish occupied territories of the island and then through the green line they reach the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus and request political asylum.
It is recalled that in her letter to the heads of state and government, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, stresses that migration as a European challenge for which a European response must be given.
The President of the European Commission notes that geopolitical instability, demographic trends and climate change further intensify the pressures. She also underlines the need for an agreement on Migration and Asylum and says that efforts will continue to ensure the full implementation of the EU-Turkey joint statement.
Iosif also says that on Wednesday, February 8, the President will convene a meeting of the Council of Ministers, while on Sunday, February 12, the day of the second round of the Presidential elections, President Anastasiades will exercise his right to vote in Limassol.
Source: Cyprus News Agency