The Cyprus issue, the impact of the war in Ukraine, but also the reforms promoted by the Government are among the issues on the agenda of tomorrow’s National Council meeting, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Sunday. Referring in particular on the reforms the government is proposing he said their universal acceptance would benefit all Cypriots regardless of ideology.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ceremony for the launch of the ferry link between Cyprus and Greece at the Limassol Port, Anastasiades, asked what he expects from tomorrow’s meeting of the National Council at the Presidential Palace, said that he will brief the party leaders about the latest developments on the Cyprus issue.
He added that the National Council will also discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine, noting that he is pleased to note that “political leaders are equally interested in the global financial crisis, which is unfortunately a new, negative phenomenon, recorded after the war in Ukraine.”
The President also said they will also discuss the broader issues of modernisation of laws and institutions, in order to be able to absorb funds from the EU’s Recovery and Sustainability Facility and implement programmes that have been approved, both by the political parties themselves and the European Union, through the ‘Cyprus – Tomorrow’ Plan”.
Asked if he would try to secure the consensus of the political forces in order to proceed with what he said, President Anastasiades said that there is consensus, but that there are also some differences, but expressed the conviction that with goodwill, these prospects can be created.
He also noted that there are no election expediencies on these matters, arguing that, “if, on the contrary, the reform measures envisaged are universally accepted and adopted as soon as possible, so much the better for all Cypriot people, whether they are Left wing, Right wing, or belong to the political centre.”
Regarding what he expects from next week’s European Council Summit in Brussels, in relation to any references he may make on Turkey’s provocations, the President said that the priorities at the moment are focused on the war in Ukraine, the consequences of the war, inflationary trends, and the energy and food crisis.
“There is no doubt,” he added, that through the issues under discussion, he will be given the opportunity to remind European partners once again that, beyond Ukraine, “for which, we do care about, of course,” there is also a European country, Cyprus, which has been under occupation for 48 years, and is enduring arbitrary and incompatible with international law actions that are being implemented through another country’s reformist policies.
Source: Cyprus News Agency