Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides had a working breakfast on Tuesday in Strasbourg with the group of Cypriot MPs that represent the House of Representatives in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as well as with Greek MPs Dora Bakoyannis and Georgios Mylonakis, before his contacts with the leadership of the organisation.
The President and the Cypriot and Greek MPs discussed, among other things, the latest developments regarding the Cyprus problem, issues of interest to the Council of Europe, and the importance of implementing the ECHR’s decisions.
Later, President Christodoulides arrived to the Council of Europe, where he was received by the new President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Theodoros Roussopoulos, the Secretary General of the CoE Marija Pejcinovic Buric, and the Secretary General of PACE. Later in the afternoon, Christodoulides will address the plenary session.
The working breakfast was attended, on behalf of the House of Representatives, by Cypri
ot MPs Nikos Tornaritis (DISY-EPP), Giorgos Loukaides (AKEL-LEFT), Christiana Erotokritou and Costas Efstathiou (Independent-SOC).
The meeting was also attended by Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, the permanent representative of the Republic of Cyprus at the CoE, Dimitris Hatziargyrou, the deputy director of the diplomatic office of the President, Doros Venezis and the permanent representative of Greece at the CoE, Panagiotis Beglitis.
Besides, according to a statement from the Cyprus Parliament, the members of the Cypriot delegation briefed President Christodoulides ‘about the diverse work of the PACE and the important experiences they gain from their participation in the Assembly, representing the House of Representatives’. They emphasised, it is noted, the importance of parliamentary diplomacy and thanked Bakoyannis and the other members of the Greek delegation ‘for their excellent and continuous cooperation and support’ for the work of the Cypriot delegation, both within the Council of Eur
ope and more widely.
It also said that, they exchanged views on the current developments in the Cyprus problem and other matters of wider international interest as well as the role of the Council of Europe in an ever-changing environment. The situation in the Middle East and the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus for a maritime corridor for the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza were discussed, among other things, it adds.
The statement also said that, it was jointly noted that the coordination achieved at the parliamentary level complements and significantly strengthens the initiatives undertaken at the executive level, highlighting the prestige and credibility of Greece and Cyprus in the European and international affairs.
Source: Cyprus News Agency