The General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Andros Kyprianou recentlycontinued his meetings with senior European officials, within the framework of his visit to Brussels. Andros Kyprianou met with the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avraamopoulos, the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides, the Vice-president of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament Franziska Maria Keller and with the Socialist and Democrat Group MEP Kati Piri, who is also the rapporteur of the European Parliament’s Report on Turkey. Also present at the meetings were AKEL MEP’s Neoklis Sylikiotis and Takis Hadjigeorgiou.
The General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL briefed the European officials about the situation in which the negotiations on the Cyprus problem are in and conveyed AKEL’s view about how the current blockage could be overcome in order for the negotiations to continue under the best possible conditions. Provided that the leaders of both communities believe in the solution, he stressed, then they need to find ways not to drive the procedure to a collapse. The General Secretary of AKEL also underlined that AKEL was, and will remain, committed to the goal of the liberation and reunification of Cyprus, adding that AKEL will continue to make use of its ties and bonds with the Turkish Cypriot community, but also its international relations in the direction of an agreed, viable and functional solution of the Cyprus problems based on principles. Finally, the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL stressed that the European Union must fulfill its promises and contribute towards the finding of a solution of the Cyprus problem based both on the agreed framework, as well as in implementation of the solution.
On their part, the leading officials of the EU, with whom the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL met, expressed their readiness to contribute, each in their own way, towards overcoming the impasse and to the continuation of the negotiation procedure. They also acknowledged that, despite the difficulties that exist and due also to the situation in Turkey, the solution of the Cyprus problem remains a necessity for stability and peace in the wider region.
Today Andros Kyprianou will be a keynote speaker in the afternoon, together with the member of the Political Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL Toumazos Tselepis, at the event organized by the GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament on the theme “The Cyprus Problem: recent developments and the way ahead”.