Christodoulides speaks of ‘historic day’

Government Spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday that it was an historic day for Cyprus that would be utilised to lead to positive results.

The UNSG very correctly said that it was the beginning of a discussion “certainly not an easy dialogue, which we hope will bring a positive outcome through the exchange of views and above all the will of those involved,” the spokesman said.

Replying to a question he said that during the working lunch they had after the first session, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini took the floor and several views were expressed.

The spokesman noted also what the UNSG himself said in his statements in his opening speech and during the working lunch that any agreement must at the end of the day be approved by the people of Cyprus, is important.

Therefore any agreement must not be outside a framework which cannot be accepted, he stressed.
Christodoulides said they were fully satisfied with the speeches made by the President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker and Mogherini because they described the EU`s responsibilities towards its member states on security issues.

He noted that the EU was present at the conference at the highest possible level. Christodoulides said that Anastasiades would meet on Friday morning with Mogherini.

Asked if there is was a formula on security drafted by the EU in cooperation with certain countries as Germany, he noted that there was no proposal by the EU or by any of its member states.

The spokesman said that through his intervention at the first session of the conference, Anastasiades expressed positions both as leader of the Greek Cypriot community and as President of the Republic of Cyprus.

To a remark by a journalist that Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke about “a so called Republic of Cyprus”, he said that the fact that Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus does not in any way affect the international personality of the Republic of Cyprus.

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.