Athens, 30 November 2009
Mr. Droutsas: Once again, I would like to welcome my friend Markos Kyprianou to Athens.
In the spirit of what we have stated repeatedly – the close cooperation between Greece and Cyprus on all the issues of common concern to us – we had the opportunity today for Markos Kyprianou to brief me on the recent developments with regard to the Cyprus issue and to talk, to collaborate, to coordinate ahead of the next EU General Affairs Council, which will take place next Monday in Brussels.
Markos, once again, welcome to Athens.
Mr. Kyprianou: Thank you very much. Today I, too, had the pleasure of meeting with my friend Dimitris Droutsas.
We discussed the issues the Minister mentioned. Of course, I remind you that we have already had a number of meetings together both in Cyprus and in Greece, as well as in Brussels and even more often over the phone, given that this is such an important time right now.
I had the chance to brief my friend Dimitris on the latest developments within the framework of the negotiations taking place in Cyprus on the resolution of the Cyprus problem, and of course I briefed him on the latest discussion in the National Council, which took place last week regarding Turkey’s evaluation in December.
We exchanged views, we discussed issues. There will be another session of the National Council this coming Friday, so I will have the opportunity to pass on the views of the Greek government. And of course we will stay in constant, not to say daily, contact until Monday’s meeting in Brussels.
Journalist: If Turkey has not made a move of good will by the Summit Meeting, what will Athens and Nicosia do? This question is for both of you.
Mr. Droutsas: I think we still have some days before then. I don’t think it would be right on our part to get ahead of ourselves regarding any position or decision then.
Mr. Kyprianou: And I would like to say that our positions are well known. We set them out the last time I came and met with the Minister. Nothing has changed. We are now at the stage of managing these positions, and let’s limit ourselves to that.
Thank you.
Mr. Droutsas: Thank you very much.