Coordination with Nicosia ‘more necessary than ever,’ PM tells Cypriot counterpart
Ahead of the UN General Assembly in a few days, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis highlighted the necessity of coordination between Greece and Cyprus during his meeting on Thursday with visiting Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
The two leaders discussed all the issues that concern the two countries regarding the contacts being made over the Cyprus problem and the situation in the Middle East.
According to well-informed sources, the issue of the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection (GSI) was also raised, with political discussions reportedly progressing satisfactorily.
“Greece and Cyprus are two countries that are pillars of stability in a very turbulent geopolitical region of the world. So, I would say that at this juncture especially, our coordination is more necessary than ever,” Mitsotakis said, referring to the coordination of actions in view of “emerging developments on the Cyprus issue.”
The biggest challenge for Athens and Nicosia at this stage is the management of the Cyprus situation, as Ankara’s tough stance is creating obstacles to the possible resumption of talks.
Mitsotakis is slated to meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York, while he is to also meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has wider significance, not only for the Cyprus issue, but mainly for Greek-Turkish relations.
For his part, Christodoulides noted that Nicosia will continue on the path of trying to resume talks on the political problem of Cyprus, promising action and not words.
“The current state of affairs is not the solution to the problem,” he stressed, while expressing hope that a solution to the Cyprus problem, combined with the full normalization of Greek-Turkish relations, would highlight the stabilizing role played by Athens and Nicosia in the region.
