The joint communique of the Ministerial Meeting of Mediterranean EU Member States held on 11 April in Nicosia, presented Thursday Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis to his counterparts, during the extraordinary EU Justice and Home Affairs Council.

Interior Minister conveyed the deep concern of the Mediterranean Member States, in relation to the humanitarian crisis in the Southern Mediterranean region and the mass waves of illegal immigration and the flows and movements of possible beneficiaries of international protection to the Mediterranean Member States. As he said, that development brings upon the Mediterranean Member States additional social, economic, administrative and demographic burden.

Sylikiotis underlined that security and stability in the Mediterranean is directly linked to the security and stability of the EU as a whole and that effective response to this challenge requires joint efforts, commitment and solidarity from all EU Member States.

He also stressed the need for additional actions and policies with a view to implement the EU principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility as expressed in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in line with the Stockholm Programme, the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, the Global Approach to Migration and the relevant European Council Declarations.

The Cypriot Minister urged the European Union to practically offer operational as well as financial support to Member States which face mass and disproportionate mixed migration flows, by fully mobilizing all available EU assets, instruments and capabilities, either existing or additional ones.

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