Statements by the General Secretary of AKEL S.Stefanou:

The Europeans are positive about AKEL’s proposal for making use of the natural gas issue to resume the talks

6 May 2023, ‘Astra’ radio

The General Secretary of AKEL had meetings in Brussels with members of the Left Group in the European Parliament, as well as with representatives of EU institutions dealing with the Cyprus problem.

As Stefanos Stefanou stated on ‘Astra’ radio, the Europeans consider that AKEL’s proposal as positive for making use of the natural gas issue to convince Turkey to come back to the negotiating table.

He added that the Europeans understand that Turkey does not trust the EU.

In his meetings it was stressed to the General Secretary of AKEL that the EU cannot operate towards the resumption of negotiations, but that it is ready to contribute at a technocratic level when and if the talks resume under the auspices of the UN.

The General Secretary of AKEL was in Brussels for the meeting of the Political Group of the Left ahead of the 2024 European elections.

Meanwhile, referring to the Christodoulides government, S.Stefanou underlined that it’s too early to be judged, but during these two months since taking office it has not shown any positive signs.

Moreover, the General Secretary of AKEL stressed, President Christodoulides himself recently stated that he would continue the successful – as he described it – policy of the Anastasiades government.

The Anastasiades government, S.Stefanou pointed out, was anti-social, had dismantled the rule of law, humiliated Cyprus and created immense inequalities.