MED9 summit taking place in Paphos today – King Abdullah, Macron and Mitsotakis expected to attend

Cyprus is at the centre of regional developments, as the heads of government of all the European states bordering the Mediterranean, the President of the European Commission, as well as the King and Crown Prince of Jordan will be on our island for the MED9 meeting in Paphos.

The meeting’s delegates will discuss all the current issues that concern Mediterranean countries, as well as the situation in the Middle East.

This is the first time the Republic of Cyprus is hosting such a summit at the level of heads of state and in which the leaders of France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Malta and Slovenia are participating.

Portugal will be represented by the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Mediterranean priorities for the next period will be put on the table, among which is migration, an issue that concerns many of the participating countries, which, like Cyprus, act as points of first reception of migration flows. On the subject, the President of the Republic is expected to emphasise the need for the implementation of the Migration Pact, in balance with the external dimension of the issue.

According to the Government Spokesman, on the Cypriot side the issue of climate change and the reactivation of the Cypriot initiative for the Eastern Mediterranean will be raised. Also, focus is expected to be put on competitiveness, which is also on the agenda of the European Council that will meet next week and is a dominant issue in the EU during this time. "Within this context, the President will highlight the importance of significant investments and the reduction of dependencies, with the aim of making the European Union more competitive, as well as the need to strengthen the European defense industry, in order to achieve more strategic autonomy of the European Union," Konstantinos Letymbiotis said.

Particular importance is attached, however, to the first part of the meeting, in which King Abdullah of Jordan will participate, together with Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah. It is not often that the two men travel together on foreign policy matters, and thus the importance Amman attaches to the discussion with the MED9 is clear.

According to sources, King Abdullah intends to make a detailed presentation to the leaders of the Mediterranean countries, in which he will refer to the extremely disturbing events unfolding in our neighborhood, in which Jordan has a leading diplomatic role. He will also analyse his thoughts, concerns and suggestions on what needs to be done to achieve de-escalation and end the crisis spilling over into Lebanon as well.

"The participation of the King is of particular importance, especially at this juncture, as Jordan together with Cyprus, but also other states of the region are pillars of security and stability and the crisis of the region you understand will be dominant on its agenda," explained the Government Spokesman. The President of the Republic and King Abdullah will have a private bilateral meeting, to discuss both bilateral issues and the crisis in the region in depth, as two states with direct involvement in the diplomatic and humanitarian aspects.

Apart from the issues arising from the hostilities in the region, the presence of the Jordanian royal family at the summit of nine European states provides an opportunity to discuss EU-Jordan relations in depth and further strengthening cooperation.

Among other things, the Cypriot-Jordanian initiative for the creation of a regional forest firefighting centre, based in Cyprus, is expected to be discussed, so that there is a permanent presence of aircraft that can intervene directly in the region.

When the meeting is over, it is expected that the nine countries will issue a joint declaration, while a press conference will be held regarding the events. As part of the event, a series of bilateral meetings have been planned, for more specialised discussions between the participants. Nikos Christodoulides will have a private meeting with the heads of Slovenia and Croatia, in addition to the King of Jordan. Due to the crowding of so many heads of state, security measures are expected to be particularly noticeable in the venues of the meeting.

It is noted that, before MED9, President Christodoulides and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will inaugurate the dialysis unit at the Paphos General Hospital, the construction and equipment of which was financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan fund, in addition to national resources.

(Source: Reporter)