The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus
and Luxembourg held a
meeting
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Ioannis
Kasoulides, met today with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg, Mr
Jean Asselborn, who is paying an official visit to Cyprus. Minister Asselborn
was also received by the President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades.
Issues on the agenda included, inter alia, the recent developments in
the negotiation process for the Cyprus problem, bilateral relations and ways for
their further strengthening, migration and terrorism.
Speaking to the Press, following the tête-à-tête meeting and the
official talks of the two delegation, Minister Kasoulides, upon welcoming his
Luxembourg counterpart, congratulated him for his country’s productive and
successful Presidency of the Council of the EU. “You have shown leadership and
efficiency in steering the European Union and its member states in responding to
the unprecedented refugee crisis in a spirit of humanity, solidarity and
responsibility”, Minister Kasoulides pointed out.
As regards the Cyprus problem, Mr Kasoulides noted that both the
President of the Republic and himself briefed Minister Asselborn on the latest
developments in the current negotiating process for finding a solution to the
Cyprus problem. “I wish to express our appreciation for Luxembourg’s supportive
stance on the Cyprus issue, and its sensitivity to principled positions, such as
the full and effective implementation of the EU acquis in a post-solution
Cyprus”, he stressed.
On the bilateral relations, Minister Kasoulides said that with his
counterpart they examined new areas of possible cooperation. He added that
Cyprus and Luxembourg are “small countries, which share common values and this
gives us a certain ‘Esprit de corps’, although I should underline that
Luxembourg is a founding member of the EU, with tremendous experiences and we
aspire to follow its example”.
Regarding the current situation in Turkey, Minister Kasoulides
reiterated Cyprus’ clear position, “that Turkey must fulfill all its obligations
vis-à-vis the EU including those related to Cyprus, in order to proceed in its
accession negotiations”.
Moreover, a number of global and regional issues of mutual concern
were discussed, focusing on the migration crisis, where both countries see
eye-to-eye on necessary EU internal coordination and policies to effectively
deal with the crisis.
Finally, the two Ministers discussed the threat of terrorism, as well
as the developments in Syria, Libya and the Middle East Peace Process.
On his part, Minister Asselborn thanked his Cyprus counterpart for
the welcoming and the briefing he had on various issues. “We had the opportunity
to have an extended exchange of views on several topics and I welcome and I am
truly honored to reconfirm our excellent, long-lasting bilateral relations and I
want to thank the Minister for the kind words about the qualifications for our
Presidency. We have done our best and we will continue to do so very close with
the interest of Cyprus”, he said.
Regarding the candidature of Cyprus for Presidency the
71st Session of the UN General Assembly, Mr Asselborn expressed once
more the full support of Luxembourg to the candidature of Mr Andreas
Mavroyiannis.
On the Cyprus question, Luxembourg’s Minister welcomed the resumption
of settlement talks, “and also the strong commitment of President Anastasiades
and also Mr Akıncı to finally putting an end to the long-standing Cyprus
problem. We all hope that the negotiations will soon lead to a comprehensive
settlement to the benefit of all”.
He further reaffirmed Luxembourg’s full support for a comprehensive
settlement, given its importance for the wider security and stability in the
region, but increasingly instable political climate and the worst refugee
climate since World War II. “Making such an agreement is a geostatrategic asset
for the European Union”, he underlined.
On migration, Minister Asselborn characterized the issue as “a top
priority and will remain one at every level even the ongoing migration and
refugee crisis, in the next decade. As long as political differences are
resolved, dealing with the refugee crisis will be even a bigger challenge in the
future. And the EU works together, I believe that durable solutions could be
found and carried out”.
Finally, on Turkey and in line with the outcome of the recent
EU-Turkey leaders’ meeting on 29 November 2015, Mr Asselborn welcomed the
re-energizing of the accession process. “I am convinced that negotiations
promote reforms in Turkey, particularly in the area of rules of law and
fundamental rights. It is in the EU’s interest to promote close relations with
Turkey in a number of important areas of common interest, such as migration,
counter-terrorism, energy, economy and trade. We cannot but engage with Turkey
in these fields”, he stressed.
He finally added that “we constantly recall in our contacts with
Ankara that Turkey can accelerate the pace of negotiations by advancing in the
fulfillment of benchmarks, by meeting the requirements on the negotiating
framework and by respecting its contractual obligations towards the EU and all
–I underline it- its member states”.
Invited to say what kind of practical assistance the EU could provide
to the solution of the Cyprus problem, Minister Asselborn expressed the
certainty that 2016 will be an important year in this context. He added that
“everybody in the EU is ready to support and knows about the importance of this
ongoing process. Luxembourg had the Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2005;
now it is 2015. In 2005, we had been very close to a kind of solution. The next
Presidency of Luxembourg will be in 14 years. I am convinced that in the end of
this year we will see a solution. I am also convinced that in spring there will
be steps in good direction. And I repeat that everybody in the EU will support
these steps. I spoke to President Anastasiades, the Minister of Foreign Affairs
and Mrs Buttenheim and everybody told that there is hope and that, on the other
side, there are difficulties, such as the property issue, the guarantees, but
the political will is there and this must come to a positive result”.
On the same question, Minister Kasoulides added that “the European
Commission participates practically, Juncker’s Envoy Mr Van Nuffel is here, with
representatives of the Commission and if you want practical ways of how they are
involved, they are helping the sides on the acquis that has to be part of the
settlement”.
Invited to clarify if he expects a solution by spring of 2016,
Luxembourg’s Minister said that what he expects, after being briefed, is that
“important steps can be done in the next spring, but that does not mean that in
spring everything is solved. I do not want to operate with dates, I know a
little bit about peace process not far away, and if you operate with dates you
are not on a good way”.
In a question on whether the EU’s migration policy has succeeded or
failed, Mr Asselborn stressed that “until now the implementation of what we
decided has failed. At this moment. But I thing in our Presidency, we always
consider the whole migration problem as a package: It is relocation,
resettlement, is control of external borders, returns and so on. In some areas
we made a lot of progress. We decided a mechanism of relocation; this is there,
it is European law. In Greece and Italy above all, it is possible to do it
immediately there. I am thinking that at the next two or three months, it will
be still difficult to do it, but the moment will come that we can use this
relocation mechanism. Resettlement was easier, because it was easier to accept
people. What we have to do now is to implement very quickly, the proposition
made by the Commission on 15 of November. That means that we need a stronger
FRONTEX to be able to control the external borders and to have an instrument to
do it. The control of external borders is not only a problem of Italy and
Greece; it is a European problem and we have to solve it with European means.
And that is what we are trying to do now. Returns will remain the most difficult
point in this context. And here, I think that if we are able to give a better
and stronger mandate to FRONTEX to do it in the European way, we have to
organize it as a European Union. That will be the key to go into a better
direction in the future”.
