We are going to go down in history says Christodoulides
Cyprus “will likely take crucial and bold decisions” in the coming months, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday night speaking before an event at the presidential palace to mark 50 years since the Turkish invasion.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was in Cyprus to attend the same event – the first time for a Greek premier – and conveyed Greece’s unwavering support to Cyprus.
The two then held a tete-a-tete meeting.
The president thanked Mitsotakis for his symbolic visit to Cyprus.
The meeting reflected the level of relations between the two countries but also the personal relationship they have, Christodoulides said, adding that Greece and Cyprus as brethren states, will jointly continue their efforts.
He stressed the important role played by the EU for the solution of the Cyprus problem, noting that “the Cyprus problem will be resolved only through the EU” and adding that the EU “has answers and solutions for such issues.”
The coming months, Christodoulides said, “will be difficult and crucial”.
We are ready to go down in history and to reunify Cyprus in accordance with UN resolutions, he pointed out.
Mitsotakis also noted the significance of his presence in Cyprus on the invasion anniversary and expressed Greece’s unwavering support for the solution of the Cyprus problem, adding that the support of the Greek state is a given.
He said he was on the island “to categorically and unreservedly state Greece’s unwavering support to Cyprus, our unwavering support to the new effort which should reunify the island in the framework of United Nations decisions.”
“Our goal remains one,” he added. “A Republic of Cyprus with one sovereignty, one international personality and one citizenship, in a bizonal, bicommunal federation, in a single state where all citizens will be both Cypriots and Europeans.”
Athens and Nicosia reject the dogma that immobility produces movement, he said.
He agreed with Christodoulides about the support of Europe. “Any threat against Cyprus becomes both a danger to our continent and to the entire Western world.”