President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides said that he expressed to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan his readiness for the resumption of negotiations on the Cyprus problem, which would help with progress in EU – Turkey relations, during an informal conversation on Thursday. Christodoulides, speaking on Friday morning upon his arrival to the meeting of the informal European Council in Budapest, also said that French President Emmanuel Macron briefed him on Thursday night on a meeting he had with Erdogan himself, during which he told the Turkish President that strengthening of EU – Turkey relations passes through the Cyprus problem.
“As I was told, the President of Turkey called for the strengthening of EU – Turkey relations, as he also said during his intervention at the meeting of the European Political Community, and even cited the positive climate between Greece and Turkey as an additional argument” to indicate Turkey’s wish to improve relations with the EU, President Christodoulides said, citing information he received from Macron on Thursday evening.
The President added that he was pleased with Macron’s reply to Erdogan that “the strengthening of EU – Turkish relations also passes through the Cyprus problem and Turkey’s obligations deriving from Cyprus” being a member state of the EU.
“The Republic of Cyprus is an EU member state. And it is important because these messages are not just being conveyed from our side, they are messages that are being conveyed by the EU as a whole,” he added.
Asked about a meeting with Erdogan, which he attended on Thursday along with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on the sidelines of the European Political Community, President Christodoulides said that “it was an opportunity to convey to the Turkish President my readiness to resume negotiations for a solution to the Cyprus problem, which will also help the progress of EU – Turkey relations”. This is “something that, as Mr. Erdogan said yesterday, is of great importance for Turkey”, Christodoulides added.
Referring to the dinner attended by EU leaders on Thursday evening, the Cyprus President said that “we had a very productive and interesting discussion on the outcome of the US elections”.
He said he was particularly pleased by the common assessment on “the need to work not only to maintain but to further substantially strengthen transatlantic relations. The US needs the EU, the EU needs the US and only through enhanced cooperation will we be able to address common challenges”.
The President added that Mario Draghi will present his report on competitiveness to the leaders during the Friday’s informal summit.
“I think it is particularly positive that now as the EU we are approaching the issue of competitiveness with the necessary seriousness. It is an area where the EU, especially compared to the US and China, has challenges to face, and that is the important thing today – we are leaving the discussions and we have to move on to concrete actions” Christodoulides said.
These actions, he stressed, will require “the necessary financial tools from the EU” as happened in the past with the Recovery Fund as well as over the years through Cohesion Funds.