Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides held a telephone conversation on Tuesday evening with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in light of increased influxes of Syrian migrants from Lebanon in the last days, and stated later that the island is in a “crisis situation.”
Speaking to the press, in Larnaca, the President noted that the EU provides significant financial assistance to Lebanon as it hosts Syrian migrants and added that he asked the President of the European Commission to contact the Lebanese authorities on the matter.
He said that the EU wishes to assist Lebanon further but underlined that Lebanon should also not allow migrants to depart from its territory and come to Cyprus.
President Christodoulides said that we are in a migration crisis recalling that very important work was done during the previous months, as Cyprus deported irregular migrants – not including those under international protection – but said that the authorities “cannot go on with this situation” of
increased influxes.
The President also referred to the meeting that took place earlier on Tuesday to discuss measures to tackle the issue, pointing out that these measures are temporary as we are in a transitional period. He described these measures as not pleasant but beneficial in the long term for dealing with migration issue.
Replying to a question he said that we must be ready to act proactively, adding that we might have to take decisions that may be unpopular, and which will be valid for some time “in order to deal with the situation.”
Source: Cyprus News Agency