The role of the European Commission regarding the implementation of the maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza would be to help feed this corridor with all the necessary aid, head spokesperson Eric Mamer said responding to questions on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Cyprus on Thursday and Friday.
When asked to clarify what exactly will be announced on Friday, Mamer said those questions should be addressed to the Cypriot authorities, as Von der Leyen is visiting the country after being invited.
He stressed however that there has been work carried out behind the scenes, since the proposal was tabled by Cyprus in November. Mamer said that the visit was not connected to recent statements by the US.
Mamer did stress that this is a project faced by lots of hurdles and difficulties, and that will develop over time.
During the question and answer session of the Commission’s midday briefing, Mamer was asked to comment whether there were more operational details on the maritime corridor. The sp
okesperson responded that he had already received questions on this and had asked for ‘a bit of patience’.
‘We will be in Cyprus this evening and tomorrow with the Cypriot President. Let me remind you that this was an initiative from Cyprus, and therefore we will be providing details with the Cypriot authorities tomorrow’ he noted.
‘What I can say is that of course this is a project that was announced some months ago by the Cypriot authorities, and that we have been in contact with them since then in order to make this work. And we will be playing our full role as the project unfolds’ he added.
Responding to questions about the timing of these developments, given that the Cypriot proposal had been first presented in November in Paris in the presence of Von der Leyen and that there were no announcements since, and on whether this is connected with the recent statements by the US that this is an interesting proposal, Mamer commented on the fact that there was no information, by saying: ‘Very simply we don’t
do our business here in the press room.’
‘I can confirm that this has nothing to do with any announcement by other parties’ he added, explaining that ‘we are going there because, following all the work that has been ongoing by the Cypriot authorities and other partners, including the European Commission, we are now at a stage where the Cypriot authorities have invited us to come to Cyprus in order to launch the project.’
This shows, he continued, ‘that actually work has been going on behind the scenes, as you would expect in order to set this project up. Now, it is a project that of course faces lots of hurdles, lots of very big difficulties, and it is certainly a project that will develop over time.’
Regarding the role of the Commission in particular, the Spokesperson said that ‘our role will be to help feed this corridor with all the necessary aid that can transit through the corridor in order to provide support to Palestinians in Gaza.’
He noted that ‘it’s not because you make an announcement, you know
some months ago, that immediately everything has to be set up’. Mamer pointed out that when the Cypriot authorities announced their proposal, ‘everybody recognized at the time and I believe that they made that very public, that this was a project which required a lot of work in order to be effective.’
‘Now we are at a stage where we are going to Cyprus to participate in the launch of the project’ he noted.
Replying on whether this visit will be accompanied by the beginning of shipments to Gaza, he said that ‘we are going there at their invitation for an event which is organized by them and therefore it is really for them to provide you with any information at this stage.’
Source: Cyprus News Agency
