The organizations of overseas Cypriots and the Greek-American community in the United States coordinate their efforts to assist Cyprus and its people due to the increasing problems they are faced with because of the economic crisis.
A broad meeting took place Wednesday night at the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America under the aegis of Archbishop of America Demetrios.
During the meeting the participants decided to coordinate their efforts and initiatives at all levels for the benefit of the People of the Republic of Cyprus. Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides briefed the participants on the latest developments and the situation via teleconference.
Archbishop Demetrios said that a fund will be created at the Archbishopric which will supervise issues related to the humanitarian assistance to Cyprus. There have been suggestions to issue state bonds , whereas the Cypriots and Greek overseas will run a campaign at the Congress and elsewhere about the situation in Cyprus.
A new meeting has been set for mid May, after the Orthodox Easter.
Speaking to the press after last night’s meeting, Archbishop Demetrios said that they had an interesting and constructive exchange of views and that they made decisions on a series of measures and activities to help Cyprus though the difficult times.
He also expressed his gratitude to the people of Cyprus for the responsible stance they showed , especially during the period the banks remained closed.
PSEKA President Philip Christopher said that the overseas Cypriots and Greeks will coordinate their efforts in three ways , the humanitarian assistance, the financial assistance and the political efforts.
Cyprus Federation President Panikos Papanicolaou noted that the cooperation will continue, adding that the Cypriots in the US are in close contact with the Embassy and the Ministries in Cyprus for a better coordination.
Earlier this month, the Eurogroup reached an agreement with the Cypriot authorities on the key elements necessary for the macroeconomic adjustment programme.
The island’s second largest bank, Laiki splits into a “good” and a “bad” bank. The bank`s “good” assets are being transferred to Bank of Cyprus, where a massive haircut is being imposed on uninsured deposits of more than 100,000 euros.
Excluded from international markets, Cyprus applied in June 2012 for financial assistance, after its two largest banks sought state aid, following massive write downs of their Greek bond holdings amounting to €4.5 billion or 25% of the island`s GDP, as a result of the Greek sovereign debt haircut.
