House Plenary to mark 20 years since EU accession with extraordinary session on 10 May

In the presence of high-ranking officials from countries that joined the EU with Cyprus in 2004 and of EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, the House Plenary will mark the 20 years since EU accession with an extraordinary session on Friday, 10 May, to be followed by an event at the Cyprus Theatre Organisation (THOC) premises in Nicosia.

The extraordinary session will start at 10am local time and is expected to last until 11am. Half an hour later a special event will be held at the THOC premises

The session at the Parliament will be attended by the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, the members of the Cabinet, members of the Diplomatic Corps and other officials of the Republic.

The President of the Parliament Annita Demetriou will address the House, followed by the leaders or representatives of the parties and the independent MPs.

The guests from EU countries to attend the meeting are the first Vice-President of the Hellenic Parliament Ioannis Plakiotakis, the President of the House of Representatives of Malta Dr. Angelo Farrugia, the Vice-President of the Parliament of Lithuania Radvilė Morkūnaitė- Mikulėnienė and the Vice-President of the National Assembly of Slovenia Danijel Krivec.

The foreign officials will visit the buffer zone before the extraordinary session of the Plenary and will sign the guest book in the afternoon.

Demetriou and Commissioner Kyriakides will deliver speeches during the event at THOC which will begin with a screening titled "20 years since Cyprus joined the EU".

The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola will address the event via a video message and Plakiotakis will also deliver a speech.

The event includes a round table discussion titled "Collective achievements, common challenges and future course as EU member states - The role of parliaments" with the participation of the House President and all her guests from the EU member states.

It will conclude with an award ceremony for high school and technical school students which took part in an essay competition on the topic "20 years since Cyprus joined the EU".

(Source: CNA)