The President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades,
and the Chancellor of Germany, Mrs Angela Merkel, had a working lunch today, in
the framework of the President’s official visit in Germany.
At a joint press conference, following the working
lunch, Mrs Merkel welcomed the President of the Republic in Berlin and, speaking
through an interpreter, said that this is the President’s first official visit
to the country following his election in February 2013.
Mrs Merkel said: “We had a chance to hold a very
intensive discussion, after several discussions we had in Brussels, and
elsewhere. We intensely discussed various issues concerning our two countries,
Cyprus’ negotiations and the future of the island. We welcome the fact that the
President worked out a joint statement, on the basis of which the process may
begin and continue under the auspices of the United Nations.
We also discussed that the Cypriot side expects greater
commitment on EU’s part. We will do everything within our power to promote this
dimension and we believe and wish for this process to be quick, fast, and lead
to success soon.
We consider that both for the economic situation of the
island in the two communities, but also from a political point of view there are
too many reasons to give impetus to this process.” I am delighted that the
President of the Republic courageously took these decisions and followed this
route, Mrs Merkel added.
“We discussed the progress of implementation of the
programme to stabilize the economy. The Troika has reviewed the progress that
Cyprus has made in this direction. I am well aware of the sacrifices made by the
Cypriot people, I am aware of the difficulties these structural changes present.
This is why Germany wants to help. Currently discussions are underway between
our Ministers of Finance for financial support, support for SMEs.”
Chancellor Merkel noted that such agreements also exist
with other countries with financial problems, with the discussions being
conducted by the competent Ministers, adding that her country is also willing to
provide possible administrative and technical support.
She added, inter alia, that the discussion moreover
focused on the crisis in Ukraine and Russia, stressing that of course they
denounce the annexation of Crimea and believe that efforts should be made and
discussed the individual steps for a diplomatic solution, despite the fact that
the situation is becoming increasingly difficult day by day.
“These were the main issues we discussed and I thank the
President for the friendly and intensive cooperation we have at all
opportunities both at the European level, and I truly wish to Cyprus every
success in this not easy path as regards the political negotiations and the
addressing and overcoming of the issues with the Troika”.
Speaking at the press conference, the President of the Republic said:
“”First of all, l wish to thank the Chancellor of Germany for the invitation to
pay an official visit to Berlin. I consider my presence here particularly
important and I remind you that this is the first official visit of a President of the Republic of Cyprus
to Germany in 24 years, and we owe this to the excellent relationship we have
built together with Chancellor Merkel.
The meeting was held in a warm atmosphere as a result of
the close friendship we have developed. We had the
opportunity to discuss issues of mutual interest, including the further
strengthening of relations between our two countries, a closer cooperation on
matters relating to Europe, and we had an extensive discussion and exchange of
views on the Cyprus problem, economy, energy, as well as on the situation in
Ukraine.
I had the opportunity to brief the Chancellor about the
prospects of resolving the Cyprus problem, as they are being formed after the
conclusion of the joint communiqué. I briefed her about the first phase of the
talks, as evidenced by the results of this first phase, and the need for a more
active involvement of the EU so that the ongoing dialogue lead to a solution
that creates a new situation for a state which can work effectively within the
EU.
I found full support and understanding by the Chancellor
and I warmly thank her for this.” The President also thanked Mrs Merkel for her
understanding for the situation in Cyprus as it exists at the moment, which
hurts Europe as well, namely for the need to find ways to reach a solution which
shall express the entire population and address all the concerns and claims of
the Cypriot people as a whole, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
He noted that he also stressed the need for a new
dynamic in the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, while promoting and adopting
bold confidence building measures which will restore the confidence and
generally give a new dynamic to the whole process.
As regards the economy, President Anastasiades said,
inter alia, that he reiterated the Government’s determination to continue to
consistently implement the programme. I noted the progress made, and of course,
the Chancellor was aware of it, especially in relation to public finance,
highlighting at the same time the problems faced by SMEs, as well as the
particularly worrying problem of unemployment, which affects primarily the new
generation, the President added.
In this context, concrete ways of support from Germany
for our efforts were discussed, and I should warmly thank Mrs Merkel for what
she has publicly said, that our Ministers and technocrats are in constant
dialogue so as to come up with a support programme from Germany for the
programmes Cyprus is working out, whether it is financial support for the SMEs,
the unemployed or technical assistance, Mr Anastasiades said.
Concerning Ukraine, an issue directly associated with
the economy as well, without overlooking the international dimension of the
crisis, we discussed the implications of a possible decision by the EU for
sectoral sanctions against Russia, the President said inter alia.
Lastly, President Anastasiades said: “We examined the possibility,
and we have proposed and encouraged the involvement of German interests in the
exploitation of the natural wealth, which will certainly help to transform Cyprus into an energy
center , a substitute for other dependencies
so that there is a third way of energy supply for the EU , something that can also be achieved through German
interests funding.”
