Christofias: Ireland had a right to reject Lisbon treaty

SPEAKING on his return from Brussels last night, President Christofias said it would not be right to presume that Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat was against finding a solution to the Cyprus problem.

“We first need to complete the image on which we want to work,” he pointed out.

Regarding the EU Summit, Christofias said it was a critical meeting due to it coinciding with Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

He said there was understanding towards the people of Ireland due to their situation.

“Our intervention was based on our principles, supporting the freedom of speech and the people’s decision. I connected it with our referendum and the consequences of our people’s ‘no’”.

The ratification of the Treaty, he added, continued in all member states, including Cyprus. He repeated his decision to respect his predecessor’s signature, despite his party objecting to it.

Regarding the increase in prices and high cost of living, the President said the European Commission had decided to finalise its long-term solutions within the next few months. In the meantime, it has been left to the governments of the member states to take measures that will help the vulnerable sectors.

President Christofias first made special reference to those affected by this week’s fires and thanked all those involved in extinguishing it.

He called on the public to be extra careful. “This summer we will have very high temperatures, the drought is a good promoter of fires so I am calling on the people to be extremely careful.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.