Y. OMIROU: With much joy and brotherly love, we welcome today the Foreign Minister of Greece, our good friend Dimitris Avramopoulos, who, of course, in various political and state capacities, has visited Cyprus before. He is well known to be a good friend of Cyprus, an ardent supporter of the Cypriot people’s struggle to end the occupation and restore the human rights and fundamental freedoms of our people.
The Minister’s visit is taking place at an interesting juncture, with the Republic of Cyprus assuming the EU Presidency as of yesterday. This is an important moment for the Republic of Cyprus to prove to be an equal and responsible member state of the European Union, to handle the critical problems facing the EU at this time, in particular with regard to the economy and the adoption of policies that will lead to a better Europe, and for anti-European sentiments to be rejected by European citizens; for them to accept that Europe is not the problem, but the solution to the problems.
Of course, the Minister and I naturally discussed the outlook for our major national issue. I want to express our gratitude for the support of the Greek government, the Greek people, the Greek political forces, in the ongoing struggle of our people to achieve a democratic, just, viable solution for the Cyprus problem.
The culmination of Turkish bad faith, intransigence and quibbling essentially led – as is well known – to an impasse in the talks. But we will not stop. We are trying to create the conditions that will lead to a solution. However, we also send the message that we will not kneel before intransigence and difficulties.
We hope that our European partners will send even stronger messages to Turkey: that if it wants a European future, it will have to comply with the rules and principles and values that the EU represents, and not conduct itself as it does now, brazenly refusing to recognize the Cypriot Presidency of the EU.
Hellenes are at there best in difficult circumstance, as we have often said. In this truly difficult state of affairs – in both Cyprus and Greece – we will overcome the difficulties and forge a common Greece-Cyprus front for the defense of the two countries’ interests.
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: I would like to express my particular pleasure at continuing the chain of regular communication and meetings that I have with the President of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yiannakis Omirou, and mainly at the substantial content of everything we talked about a short while ago – always in a heartfelt climate of brotherhood.
We agreed, first of all, that we have to intensify our meetings and coordination so that we can approach our common goal: the resolution of the Cyprus issue. I will agree with him that we Hellenes are at our best under difficult circumstances. We are not discouraged by the difficulties that arise from time to time, and at every opportunity we demonstrate our resolve to move ahead united. In these time, which are truly difficult times, we need to maintain our composure and our resolve.
We mustn’t – my dear President – be swept up into the escalation pursued by the Turkish side so that they can impose new accomplished facts and promote their own strategy on the Cyprus issue, precisely because they don’t have substantial, credible and convincing arguments.
The President of the House and I put special emphasis on the fact that these days are of great importance – semiologically, symbolically and substantially – as they coincide with the start of the Cypriot Presidency of the EU. This is an historic moment for Cyprus, and I am certain that, doing its best, it will prove that it is a modern European country that can undertake initiatives in the name of the common goal of all European peoples: to strengthen the European identity, European structures, and to consolidate conditions of security, stability, peace and cooperation in our wider region.
I am sure that the Cypriot Presidency will prove to be particularly successful. And the full support of the Greek government is also a given, along with the full support of the Greek people and our political parties. Whenever anything is needed, this should be considered obvious and a given.
The Presidency is a first-class opportunity for Cyprus to show all of Europe how and where it can contribute to the European endeavor at a difficult juncture, with the economic crisis taking on unchecked dimensions and jeopardizing social cohesion and development prospects.
Mr. Omirou and I discussed these issues – the economic crisis. At this point I would like to say that in Greece there is a new government with a long-range horizon and the will to confront the major problems that have arisen; to confront them, with Greek society and Greek political forces, in a spirit of unity. There is no doubt that we will soon see the creation once again of terms and conditions for our country’s embarking on the path of development and progress.
I truly believe that we will overcome this difficult state of affairs, and, I hope, perhaps much sooner than many believe.
On this path, this course, Greece and Cyprus will move together. My presence here today is not just symbolic in nature – with the Greek Foreign Minister’s first visit abroad always being to Cyprus – but is substantial, because it gave me the opportunity to share thoughts and views that have to do with our common destiny, our common course and our common future. This briefing will continue with the leaders of all the political parties.
With all my heart, I wish Cyprus every success in meeting its goals. And you should know that, despite the adverse conditions of the times, Greece will remain the most important supporter and helper of Cyprus as we face our common perspective. To get to the end of this first stage in the journey, we want a unified, indivisible Cyprus where all residents will fully exercise the right to life, progress and dignity.
I wish you this will all my heart, my dear President, and we expect you soon in Greece. Because beyond all of this, you will have the opportunity there to talk to your colleague, the newly elected Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament. We must again update, renew and forge the strong bonds between the two parliaments.
July 2, 2012