Cyprus issue a top national priority, says Greek President

The Cyprus issue is a permanent concern and top national priority of the Greek foreign policy, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou said on Monday, as she welcomed Cyprus’ President to Greece on his first official visit abroad after assuming office.

The President of Greece welcomed Christodoulides and congratulated him on his new duties wishing him every success. She also referred to the deadly train accident in Greece that resulted in the loss of dozens of young lives, including Cypriot students, and expressed her sincere condolences.

President Nikos Christodoulides said that his visit is both symbolic and substantive, and stressed that the current state of affairs in Cyprus cannot be the island’s future and Nicosia cannot continue to be the last divided capital of Europe.

Sakellaropoulou said she was convinced that Christodoulides’ many years of experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as a prominent Cypriot diplomat will be valuable in the new efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue; a permanent concern and top national priority of the Greek foreign policy.

The President of Greece said that both countries share the common goal of reaching an agreed solution within the framework of the UN decisions, that will end the anachronistic system of guarantees and the right to intervene in Cypriot affairs, and ensure the withdrawal of occupation troops and the implementation of the EU acquis communautaire.

President Christodoulides referred to the train tragedy in Greece and expressed the warmest condolences of Cyprus to Greece saying that both countries are mourning their losses. He said that the responsibility of all those in positions of power and the best memorial service for all those who lost their lives is to do everything possible to prevent such incidents from happening again.

On the diplomatic front, Christodoulides said that Greece and Cyprus, as members of the great European family, must, through actions, foreign and internal policy prove in practice that they are pillars of stability and security.

He thanked the President of Greece for placing the Cyprus issue on top of the national priorities, saying that it is also a European issue. Noting that there are difficulties and challenges, he said that we will do everything humanly possible to break the impasse and achieve the goal of liberation and reunification of Cyprus, always on the basis of the agreed framework.

President Christodoulides said that it is within this context that the EU can play a decisive role. He added that Cyprus is a member of the EU and will continue to be after a possible solution of the Cyprus problem. The EU has all those incentives to lead to a mutually acceptable state of affairs, he noted.

He added that as the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have proven, we cannot change our geographic situation and all the states of the region should - through a positive approach always with respect to international law and European values and principles - find ways to resolve their problems and differences and to come together to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the region.

Concluding, he said that he is in Greece to coordinate with the Greek government to see how they can bilaterally, regionally, or within the EU, achieve all these goals.

Earlier on, the Cypriot President laid a wreath at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in Athens.

Meanwhile, the President was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Athens.

(Source: CNA)