Cyprus’ compliance with international law and UN resolutions is a given, the President of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou said while addressing the Second Inter-Parliamentary Session of the International Platform on Crimea in Prague.
According to a House statement, during her intervention, Demetriou added that “we support the struggle of Ukraine and stand against the legalisation of the occupation in both Crimea and Cyprus and stress the need to lift the occupation, as well as the liberation and reunification of Cyprus on the basis of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the principles and values of the European Union”.
The House President stressed that Cyprus will continue to support the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as the non-recognition of the change of status of Crimea.
‘Cyprus’ compliance with international law and UN resolutions is a given, without asterisks and footnotes’ she said, adding that “it is in exactly the same context that we condemn the attempted ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh and the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.”
She also said that “we need to respond with more democracy, fiercer defence of our principles, honesty and cooperation among ourselves’, stressing that “it is required that we, as Parliaments, remain on the right side of history”.
In addition, Demetriou briefed the President of the Czech Senate Miloš Vystrcil and the President of the Austrian National Council Wolfgang Sobotka on the current situation on the Cyprus problem, in separate meetings held on the margins of her participation in the Crimea Platform session.
According to another House statement, during their meeting, Demetriou and Vystrcil reaffirmed the friendly relations between the two countries and the Parliaments, which are based on their common commitment to international law, noting that the presence of both of them at this session is a further confirmation of this fact.
Thanking the President of the Czech Senate for his country’s principled stance on the Cyprus problem, the House President informed him about the current stalemate in the negotiation process and underlined the efforts to immediately resume direct talks to reach a solution that would reunite Cyprus and its people on the basis of the principles of international law, the relevant UN resolutions and the principles and values of the EU.
In this regard, Demetriou noted that the escalating tension in the Middle East points to the need for the timely and peaceful resolution of conflicts on the basis of international legitimacy, noting the danger of their prolonged existence.
During their meeting, Demetriou and Sobotka condemned the recent Hamas terrorist attack which claimed the lives of thousands of civilians, recognising Israel’s right to defend itself in the light of international humanitarian law.
They also identified room for further development of the already good relations between the two Parliaments and expressed their common desire to strengthen parliamentary exchanges and continue the excellent cooperation at bilateral and multilateral level.
Informing her interlocutor about the current situation in the Cyprus problem, the House President thanked Sobotka for his country’s principled stance, noting that, as in the case of Ukraine, so in the case of Cyprus, it is important to preserve international legitimacy and the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of each state.
During the House President’s meetings, they all expressed strong concerns about the looming new migration crisis, which the conflict in the Middle East is likely to bring to Europe, and stressed the need for a new European Agreement on Immigration and Asylum as the only way to manage migration effectively and humanely, with Demetriou recalling that Cyprus is the largest recipient of asylum seekers in terms of population and denouncing Turkey’s practice of instrumentalising migrants by directing them to the free areas of Cyprus through the ceasefire line.
Demetriou, Vystrcil and Sobotka reiterated their full support for the just cause of Ukraine and their solidarity with the Ukrainian people, stating that the ongoing violence in the Middle East region should in no way slow down the efforts of the international community to restore international legitimacy in Ukraine, the statement concludes.
Source: Cyprus News Agency