The President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulidis, and the elected President of the European Council, Mr. Antonio Costa, who is on a working visit to Cyprus, went today to Nicosia within the walls, where they toured along the green line.
During the tour, Mr. Costa told reporters, among other things, that he is touring EU member states where he is hearing from leaders about the issues that concern them ahead of taking up his new duties on December 1. .
When asked, Mr. Costa expressed his support for Cyprus and the efforts made by the UN Secretary-General to overcome, as he said, this situation in Cyprus, at the same time expressing his best wishes to the President of the Republic, wishing the two communities in Cyprus to achieve a good result.
For his part, the President of the Republic, when asked if there was a response to the letter he sent to the UN Secretary-General and to a journalist's remark that there is talk of three separate negotiation tables and a five-party one, said "to clarify, because I saw something in the press today that does not correspond in reality. It was not a proposal of the UN Secretary-General, it was a proposal of mine within the context of the discussion and as an indication of the preparation we did but also as an indication of our readiness to start the negotiations that, when the negotiations resume - which is our goal - we can to move in the specific context I described.
There was no motion made by the GM, the GM's motion was for this expanded meeting, the one we accepted and the one we are already working on. That is why I also sent the letter to the General Secretary, so that when it is carried out it will have an effect".
To a journalist's remark that he had said that we expect developments from the EU side in the Cyprus issue and when asked if there are any indications in this direction, the President of the Republic said "let's wait for the developments. The presentation of the candidate Commissioners to the European Commission begins, this process should be completed, the new President will take over from December 1st and what needs to be done by the EU will be done."
Asked about the subject of his meeting with the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community on the opening of new crossing points, President Christodoulidis said that "in the letter I sent to the Secretary-General I also refer to this specific issue and express my readiness for it to take place as soon as possible and to have positive results. And for my meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader, but also for the five-party conference, what interests us most and what we are focusing on at the moment in various directions, not only in the UN, in the EU, but also in the Permanent Members of the Security Council, is to have positive results".
