Category: Cyprus News Agency

The President of the Hellenic Parliament, Nikitas Kaklamanis, begins his contacts in Cyprus on ?uesday, on his first official visit to the island after his election.

Kaklamanis will be received in the morning by President Nikos Christodoulides and will then hold a meeting with President of the Parliament Annita Demetriou. At noon, he will address a special session of the House Plenary.

During the visit, which will last until Wednesday, October 1, the President of the Hellenic Parliament will also meet with Archbishop of Cyprus Georgios and leaders and representatives of the political parties.

On October 1, he will also attend the military parade for the 65th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Cyprus.

The President of the Hellenic Parliament, as part of his official visit, will lay a wreath at the Tomb of Makedonitissa, at the tombs of EOKA heroes and at the Hero’s Monument at ELDYK camp in Malounta.

Cyprus’ Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy, Nicodemos Damianou has asked for “clear parameters and criteria for the participation of third countries” in EU-funded dual-use and defence technology programs in statements upon his arrival at the EU Competitiveness Council meeting on research issues in Brussels, on Tuesday morning.

The Deputy Minister focused particularly on the new framework program and its provisions for supporting dual-use and defense technologies. “While we support this direction, Cyprus highlights the fact that there need to be clear parameters and criteria for participation of third countries in this program, particularly countries which have shown a history of going against strategic interests of EU member states,” he underlined.

Damianou said that this is”a decisive moment for Europe,” noting that the discussions and decisions made “affect our ability to innovate, to remain competitive and to turn research results into tangible benefits for our citizens and our economies.’

He further explained that the Council is adopting conclusions on the EU Start-Up and Scale-Up Strategy this morning. “This is an important step, particularly with regards to our ability to retain not only our talent but also our innovative start-ups in Europe. Cyprus stands ready to push forward with the implementation of this strategy during our upcoming Presidency,” he stressed.

Additionally, according to the Deputy Minister, the Council is endorsing the EU Life Sciences Strategy today, which “is aligned with a number of our national priorities, namely, and to name a few, our focus on biotech, agritech, energitech, but also biobanks and sustainable food systems.’

Finally, at the policy debate level, discussions focused on the new approach to research and technology infrastructures, which is particularly important in areas such as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and semiconductors. “Cyprus advocates for stronger coordination and more accessibility, particularly with regards to SMEs and start-ups,” the Deputy Minister concluded.

President of the Hellenic Parliament, Nikitas Kaklamanis, has said that it is a positive development that for the first time in 8 years there is some movement as regards efforts to solve the Cyprus issue.

Kaklamanis was addressing a special session of the House of Representatives plenary in Nicosia, where he is paying an official visit.

On her part, the President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou, pointed out that the first official visit of Nikitas Kaklamanis to Cyprus as President of the Hellenic Parliament ‘entails high symbolism, but is also an act of fundamental political importance’, because ‘it demonstrates the strong historical ties between Greece and Cyprus and demonstrates the will of our two states to maintain a solid common front of Athens and Nicosia’.

Demetriou noted, inter alia, that ‘the strong fraternal bonds, the solidarity and the coexistence of Greece and Cyprus are reflected in the excellent cooperation between our two Parliaments over time, with a milestone in this cooperation being the publication of the ‘Cyprus File’, an extremely difficult undertaking, which contributes decisively to the goal of national self-awareness’.

She also assured that the House of Representatives will continue to work to further strengthen and expand cooperation with the Greek Parliament at all levels.

In his address, the President of the Hellenic Parliament, Nikitas Kaklamanis, pointed out that Greece and Cyprus have made it clear that a solution to the Cyprus problem is not conceivable without the complete withdrawal of the illegal occupation troops and without the liberation of Cyprus from anachronistic systems of guarantees and rights of third-party intervention in Cypriot affairs.

He noted that it is a positive development that for the first time in 8 years there is some movement in efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, at the initiative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the Republic of Cyprus.

He also assured that, despite the climate of tension in the Hellenic Parliament, Cyprus is one of the few issues that unites the political parties in the Parliament.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.