A 30-minute meeting between Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiadis and the European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, was held tonight in the EP Headquarters, in Brussels. After the meeting, government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides expressed “the President’s complete satisfaction for the meeting with Antonio Tajani, with whom President Anastasiades is connected with years of friendship from the European People`s Party.”

That was the first meeting between Anastasiades and Tajani since the latter assumed office.

According to CNA sources, Nicos Anastasiades and Antonio Tajani discussed the agenda of tomorrow`s European Council meeting and especially the launch of a dialogue on the future of Europe, from which the Union aims to emerge stronger. The two men had a detailed discussion about migration affecting mostly Europe`s southern countries.

According to the same sources, the President of the Republic of Cyprus informed Antonio Tajani in detail on the Cyprus issue, with particular emphasis on the question of the viability of a settlement, the chapter of security and guarantees, as well as the role of the EU in solving these issues.

It is noted by the same sources that Antonio Tajani believes that the EU itself could act as a safeguard for both the solution`s viability and the security of Cypriot people in their entirety.

Finally, it is added that the President of Cyprus discussed with EP President recent Turkish demands for extending the four EU freedoms to Turkish citizens in Cyprus, which concern all of the EU and are deemed unacceptable.

The Republic of Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. UN-led talks between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities resumed in May 2015 with a view to reunite the island under a federal roof.

The talks were interrupted in mid February by the Turkish Cypriot side, which demands that a decision passed by the Cypriot Parliament, in relation to a 1950 referendum on union with Greece, is revoked, claiming this indicates a shift in the Greek Cypriot side regarding the federal solution. The House decision notes that there will be a very brief reference to the referendum in schools.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has said the House decision is wrong and called on the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci, who walked out of the talks, to return to the negotiating table to discuss pending issues, with a view to reach a mutually acceptable agreement to reunite the country.