{"id":1746,"date":"2015-10-26T17:26:13","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T15:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/foreign-minister-kotzias-statements-at-his-joint-press-conference-with-the-foreign-minister-of-the-republic-of-cyprus-kasoulides-nicosia-26-october-2015\/"},"modified":"2015-10-26T17:26:13","modified_gmt":"2015-10-26T15:26:13","slug":"foreign-minister-kotzias-statements-at-his-joint-press-conference-with-the-foreign-minister-of-the-republic-of-cyprus-kasoulides-nicosia-26-october-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/foreign-minister-kotzias-statements-at-his-joint-press-conference-with-the-foreign-minister-of-the-republic-of-cyprus-kasoulides-nicosia-26-october-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign Minister Kotzias\u2019 statements at his joint press conference with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus, I. Kasoulides (Nicosia, 26 October 2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"
N. KOTZIAS: Each time I visit Cyprus, I
\ndon\u2019t know whether I should say I\u2019m coming or returning here. Because
\nCyprus is a part of my youth and my heart. And today it was very moving
\nto visit the school of the Makedonitissa, a beautiful school, a
\nwonderful celebration of the \u201cNo\u201d of 28 October 1940. It is a particular
\n pleasure for me to be with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of
\nCyprus, Ioannis Kasoulides, with whom I am working together not just on
\nnarrow Greece-Cyprus issues, but also on issues concerning international
\n and European developments, and his opinion and knowledge are always a
\nsupport for my own thoughts.<\/p>\n

The Minister and I discussed in
\ndetail the migration issues, which find Greece in the eye of the storm,
\nas a gateway to the EU. We talked about energy issues \u2013 both Cyprus\u2019
\nenergy issues and prospects, such as the energy pipelines and LNG
\nterminals, which are planned to pass through or be built in Greece.<\/p>\n

We
\n had an in-depth discussion of the trilateral configurations we have
\nwith Egypt and with Israel, and the thoughts we have of offering such
\ntrilateral collaboration with additional states, like Jordan. You see,
\nthis model of cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean has won
\nsupporters \u2013 people and states, that is \u2013 that are interested in
\nparticipating.<\/p>\n

Of course, the main subject of our talks was the
\nCyprus issue. The Cyprus issue as an issue of occupation, as an issue of
\n the violation of international rules and international law, as an issue
\n of the unification of the island and of functionally and
\ninstitutionally safeguarded coexistence in a federal, bizonal,
\nbicommunal republic of Cyprus, where the Turkish Cypriots will have all
\nthe goods and the maximum possible rights, and the Greek Cypriots, along
\n with the three minorities here in Cyprus, will feel secure in a stable
\nRepublic of Cyprus. And for this to happen, of course the occupation
\nforces must be withdrawn, and my views on the guarantees are well known.<\/p>\n

In
\n the course of our discussion of the Cyprus issue, we also talked about
\nthe international players. We talked about and have repeatedly talked
\nwith Mr. Eide, with the European side, with the American side and with
\nall of the member states of the UN Security Council, and I can say that
\nthe general climate is positive with regard to the fundamental issues
\nthe Republic of Cyprus is facing \u2013 and from the standpoint it sees them.<\/p>\n

I
\n would also like to say that Mr. Kasoulides and I talked about the major
\n current issues of the region, and I briefed him on the initiatives
\nregarding our neighbours in the Balkans.<\/p>\n

I think that my heart is
\n fuller every time I leave Cyprus; my mind is more alert and optimistic.
\n Cautious and realistic optimism, but it is greater. And I have the
\nsense that this is happening on this trip, as well, on which we are
\ndiscussing the foreign policy issues themselves. I would like, once
\nagain, to thank Mr. Kasoulides for the hospitality, the warmth, the
\nembrace that opens every time a Greek delegation comes to Cyprus. And so
\n I will close with what I said at the outset: I don\u2019t know whether I am
\ncoming as a visitor or returning to a part of my youth and soul in the
\nRepublic of Cyprus. Thank you.<\/p>\n

JOURNALIST: [Question on the migration issue]<\/p>\n

N.
\n KOTZIAS: I will say only one thing here. We cannot have third countries
\n like Greece paying for the choices made by others. We neither wanted
\nnor contributed to nor sought a war in Libya or in Syria. I think it is
\nunfair for countries that did not contribute to causing the migration
\nflows to be the ones mainly paying the cost. I also want to say that we
\ncannot but help with the UN camps in Jordan and Lebanon \u2013 if they aren\u2019t
\n getting the material and economic support they need, and we are seeing
\nthe new phenomenon, with 300,000 people moving right now from those
\ncamps in the direction of Greece. Instead of debating how much money it
\nwill spend within its own territory, the EU should already have made
\nsure \u2013 or at least make sure now, at this late date \u2013 that there is
\nfunding that ensures decent infrastructure, infrastructure for work and
\neducation, for the migrants within the Arab world; that is, in Jordan
\nand Libya.<\/p>\n

That is, we need to be very careful not to allow the
\ndestabilization of states like Egypt, behind which is Sudan, in the
\nthroes of civil war, and the failing state of Somalia. Consequently, a
\nnumber of measures need to be taken in the region to avert the
\nperpetuation of a migration problem that is of unmanageable dimensions.
\nAreas currently destabilized may continue to be so next year, or new
\ndestabilized zones might arise, and no one can foresee, today, the size
\nof the problem, and it is prudent to take timely measures to keep the
\nproblem from growing any further.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N. KOTZIAS: Each time I visit Cyprus, I don\u2019t know whether I should say I\u2019m coming or returning here. Because Cyprus is a part of my youth and my heart. And today it was very moving to visit the school of the Makedonitissa, a beautiful school, a wonderful celebration of the \u201cNo\u201d of 28 October […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-embassy-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mfa.gr\/cyprus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}