Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 12-04-18

Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] Tusk: The EU must not accept any threats against the Republic

of Cyprus

[02] Talks with Noble to be concluded in the next weeks, Minister says

[03] 2012 a particularly hard year for the Cypriot Economy FinMin says

[01] Tusk: The EU must not accept any threats against the Republic of Cyprus

Speaking on Wednesday during a press conference with President of Cyprus Demetris Christofias in Nicosia, the Polish Prime Minister, on a working visit here, pointed out that the Republic of Cyprus will assume the EU presidency as a member state of the Union and will thus represent the whole Union.

Moreover, Tusk, whose country was the first of the current trio presidency (Poland, Denmark, Cyprus), expressed hope that the current UN-led peace talks will continue to help find a solution in Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion.

In his statements, President Christofias said that Turkish threats to upgrade the status of the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime in occupied Cyprus and to freeze relations with the EU during Cyprus` six monthly rotating EU presidency, cannot be accepted either by the EU or the international community.

The Cypriot President also said that Turkey should abide by international law, otherwise, as he stressed, Ankara is not worthy of having the status of a candidate country for EU accession.

The Polish Prime Minister was asked to comment on Turkish threats to freeze relations with the EU during Cyprus` EU presidency and to upgrade the Turkish Cypriot regime by the 1st of July, if no solution is found to the political problem in Cyprus.

«Cyprus will assume the presidency as a member state of the EU and will hold that position for the whole EU``, Tusk said, stressing that no threats against the presidency will be tolerated.

He expressed hope that Ankara will take no action to destabilise Cyprus, noting that this would be interpreted as an attempt to destabilise the EU itself.

``We support a solution that would reunify Cyprus``, he said, expressing hope that the Cypriot EU presidency will have a positive impact on the efforts to reach a solution.

He furthermore expressed his country`s support towards the relevant UN resolutions on Cyprus, saying that they should be the basis for the solution of the problem.

President Christofias said that Cyprus favors Turkey`s EU accession bid, noting that Ankara should first learn to behave as a European country, and not as an imperialistic occupation force whose military threatens a member country of the EU, namely Cyprus. «Our position is crystal clear. Turkey must abide by international and European law. Otherwise, Turkey is not worthy of being a candidate country for accession``, he underlined.

President Christofias stressed that the rotating EU presidency is an institutional matter of the EU, which Ankara must respect. Moreover, he noted that Turkey must meet its EU obligations, including the ones concerning the Republic of Cyprus which stress that Ankara must contribute to efforts towards a solution.

Welcoming the Polish Prime Minister to Cyprus, President Christofias spoke about the excellent level of bilateral relations, noting that the trio presidency has brought the two countries even closer.

He congratulated the Prime Minister on the successful Polish EU presidency, and said that the Cypriot EU presidency will seek to contribute to a ``Better Europe`` for all its citizens as well as for all its neighbours.

During their meeting, he said, they exchanged views on the major issues that will be addressed during Cyprus` EU presidency, like the current financial crisis, the Multiannual Financial Framework, as well as the Common European Asylum System.

In addition, he said that Cyprus will give emphasis on the revival of the Integrated Maritime Policy of the EU and will push forward the accession negotiations with Iceland and the European perspective of the Western Balkan countries.

The Cypriot EU presidency, he added, will make efforts to bring Europe closer to its southern neighbours, mainly after the recent developments in North Africa and the Middle East.

Referring to the Cyprus issue, President Christofias expressed the determination of the Greek Cypriot side to achieve a mutually acceptable solution ``despite the difficulties we face due to the Turkish intransigence`` and called on the Turkish side to prove in deeds its willingness to achieve the reunification of Cyprus.

He denounced Turkish attempts to promote a plan B` for Cyprus, stressing that due to ``Turkey`s partitionist actions`` the Cyprus problem has not been solved yet.

The Republic of Cyprus has been divided since the Turkish invasion in 1974. Cyprus will assume the six monthly rotating EU presidency in July 2012.

[02] Talks with Noble to be concluded in the next weeks, Minister says

Speaking to the press, the Commerce Minister said that the procedures and strategy followed by the government are the proper ones, adding that the second licensing round is an open and transparent process and the documents were prepared following consultations and in a coordinative way.

Replying to a question he said that the companies, which have shown interest for the second licensing round and are expected to be announced on May 11, will be chosen mainly on the basis of their financial and technical figures but also based on matters that have to do with national security and interest.

Last December the Cypriot government announced that the results of the exploratory drilling in Cyprus` block 12 were positive, describing the discovery of hydrocarbons as historic for the island.

US company Noble Energy, which carried out the drilling, discovered 310 feet of net natural gas pay. The drilling reached a depth of 19,225 feet in water depth of about 5,540 feet.

[03] 2012 a particularly hard year for the Cypriot Economy FinMin says

The Ministry points out that the divergence in the forecasts noted between the projections of IMF and the Ministry concerning growth rate for 2012 is due to the fact that the IMF has not taken into account positive prospects in the tourism and services sectors, for which the Ministry is expecting signs of improvement.

In its report published yesterday, the IMF projects a negative growth of 1.2% of GDP for 2012 and 0.8% growth in 2013, whereas the Finance Ministry projects a 0.5% negative growth for the current year.

``The estimates of the IMF and of the Ministry are in the same direction,`` the Finance Ministry notes, pointing out however that ``the divergence noted (between the IMF`s and the Ministry`s forecasts) is mainly due to the fact that the IMF has not taken into account the possibility for positive prospects in the sectors of services and tourism.``

``The Ministry expects that these sectors will show signs of improvement,`` it adds.

Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article