On the initiative of Cyprus, a Ministerial Summit is being held today in Nicosia, with the participation of eight EU member states, which will focus on the external dimension of immigration, with an emphasis on the issue of Syria.
As stated in an announcement by the Ministry of the Interior, Ministers and officials from Greece, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Denmark will participate in the Summit, which is organized on the initiative of Nicosia and will be chaired by the Minister of the Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou , Italy and Malta.
It is pointed out that, during the work of the Synod, the participants will discuss immigration from the perspective of the external dimension and will examine ways to promote realistic measures to address the serious challenges of immigration. The Summit is also expected to deal with the provision of technical and financial support to neighboring third countries, recognizing their important role and contribution in stopping migration flows to the EU.
In this context and taking into account that Lebanon is called upon to manage serious social, economic and political problems, due to the large number of Syrian nationals who are in its territory, the Minister of the Interior will raise the need for the European Union to proceed with the further provision substantial aid to Lebanon, along the lines of the agreements with Egypt and Tunisia.
Mr. Ioannou will refer to the recent joint visit of the President of the Republic and the President of the European Commission to Lebanon and the announcement of a €1 billion financial support package, aimed at improving basic services and strengthening the Lebanese Security Authorities for the combating migrant smuggling networks.
"Regarding the issue of Syria, the representatives of the eight member states will exchange views on the Cypriot initiative to re-evaluate the status of areas in the country and the designation of certain areas as safe. Although stability in the country has not been achieved to an absolute extent, the situation is clearly differentiated and, therefore, the existing realities on the ground should be examined,” it added.
"The aim is to speed up the ongoing process in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in order to allow the return of Syrian nationals, under strict security conditions, with respect to European and International Law," the announcement concludes.
Source: KYPE
