The President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, will travel to Egypt tomorrow to participate in the conference on the reconstruction of Gaza, with a specific plan to present, which includes the participation of the Cypriot companies in the reconstruction of Gaza.
In statements to media representatives after the memorial service for the heroes of the Saranti community, and asked about the telephone communications he had yesterday and will have today with state leaders, the President of the Republic said that yesterday he spoke with the President of Egypt, the Prime Minister of Israel, and the President of the European Council, and today at 11 a.m. he will speak with the President of the United Arab Emirates.
“I would like to publicly thank US President Donald Trump, as well as the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, for inviting our country to attend the ceremony for Gaza tomorrow. Taking into account the fact that only 22 countries have been invited, along with the institutions, I consider the invitation as recognition of the role of the Republic of Cyprus in the region, recognition of what we have done all this period, but also, at the same time, as an indication of what is expected of us by the international community,” he continued.
“And we have a specific plan that we will develop at the relevant ceremony to be held in Egypt, in relation to the reconstruction of Gaza. We want Cypriot companies to play a role in rebuilding the country, we want the Republic of Cyprus to play a role in security issues, all of which fall within the scope of what has been agreed, particularly in the first phase of the agreement – the full implementation of this first phase is crucial – in order to move on to the next stage. And within this framework, I will be in Egypt tomorrow together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Minister of European Affairs to represent the Republic of Cyprus at this very important ceremony,” he noted.
Asked whether the Republic of Cyprus is further consolidating its position by participating in the ceremony, President Christodoulides said that ‘we had (done so) with the Amalthea corridor, we had with the evacuation of people from countries in the region, and I think the invitation is a clear sign of recognition of this role of the Republic of Cyprus, but also of what we can do from from this point on.’
“We are not resting on our laurels – and I am glad that they are recognised by the international community – but at the same time we have a specific plan from here on, in relation to the reconstruction of Gaza with the participation of Cypriot companies and the provision of more humanitarian aid,’ he added.
‘You understand that the issue that Israel has always raised continues to exist. As I told you, I spoke yesterday with the Prime Minister of Israel about the fact that everything that enters Gaza must be checked beforehand, and the Republic of Cyprus is the country that, through the CYCLOPS Centre in Larnaca, is in a position to do this beforehand, and for many other aspects of security and the implementation of the agreement,’ he noted.
‘The Republic of Cyprus is a state that has excellent relations with all its neighbours and at the same time we are a member state of the EU, we are the EU’s representative in the region, we are the country that will assume the Presidency of the Council of the EU in less than 90 days and within this framework, as I always emphasize, with actions and not words, we highlight the added value of the Republic of Cyprus,” he pointed out on the matter.
Extension of US arms embargo lift
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In response to a journalist’s observation that the US has lifted its arms embargo against the Republic of Cyprus for one year, the President of the Republic said that ‘it was something we expected.’
“Our goal – because we always have the next goal – is for this lifting to become permanent and not have to make this decision every year. Our goal is to go to three or five years and then make it permanent, and it is in this context that in the immediate future, officers of the National Guard will travel to the US to see first-hand the equipment we have requested from the US within the framework of the two programmes that the US has decided to include the Republic of Cyprus in,” he added.
“This development is not unrelated to what we discussed earlier, with the recognition of our country’s role in the region. In particular, we have undertaken the planning with the US Government, and they will submit their recommendations to us regarding a major important political decision we have taken and have begun to implement in relation to the upgrade of the ‘Andreas Papandreou’ Air Base, which is being done in cooperation with the US Government,” he concluded.