The
more active involvement of the EU and the recognition of the
importance of the confidence-building measures seem to have been led
on to a particular course and we are waiting for specific practical
results in the near future, the Government Spokesman Mr Christos
Stylianides said tonight.
In
his
remarks to the Press, following the meeting between the President of
the Republic Mr Nicos Anastasiades and the EU Commissioner for
Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Mr Stefan Fule, at the
Presidential Palace, the Spokesman said that the meeting “was
conducted in a very productive and constructive atmosphere.
The
two main issues of discussion were, first, the more active
involvement of the EU in the process of the negotiations, and
specifically the role of Mr Van Nuffel, the representative of the
Commission, and what will that role be, how it will be codified, how
it will take on a practical meaning in the daily negotiations,
particularly, as the President of the Republic emphasized repeatedly,
with regard to the compatibility of the proposals that are being
submitted with the European acquis.
There
was an extensive discussion, many thoughts and proposals were
submitted as to how Mr Van Nuffel and the Legal Service of the EU
will best be made use of. What was discussed here, in a very
productive and constructive atmosphere I repeat, will now be conveyed
by Mr Fule to the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community.
The
second, also important issue was the one which concerns the
confidence building measures. Here too there was an extensive
discussion, it was clear what has been apparent until now, that the
EU fully recognizes the value and the importance of the confidence
building measures, especially the issue of Famagusta.
It
is an important new dimension on the issue of the change in the
climate and for the creation of a momentum with regard to the
negotiation, because we now have the EU also recognizing fully this
significance, as the USA do. And following the meeting of the
President with the UN Secretary General in Brussels, there is also
the acknowledgment on the part of the UN Secretariat.
It
concerns two important new facts – from the start of his Presidency
the President of the Republic set these as important goals: a more
active involvement by the EU and the recognition of the importance of
the confidence building measures, which seem to have been led on to a
particular course and we are waiting for specific practical results
in the near future.”
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