President of Malta George Abela expressed support to Cyprus in respect to Turkish threats, during his meeting with Cypriot President Demetris Christofias, who is paying a two-day working visit to Malta.
The Cypriot President discussed Thursday with Abela, issues concerning the EU Presidency of Cyprus, bilateral relations, the developments in the Cyprus issue and Turkish threats against Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Speaking after the meeting, President Christofias referred to the “traditional friendship” of the two island – countries and EU Member States, which face similar problems and concerns and are always in close coordination.
The President said that he briefed his Maltese counterpart on the current phase of the Cyprus problem and they shared thoughts on the economic crisis and the need for coordination between small states.
As far as Cyprus EU Presidency concerns, Christofias said that there was a convergence of views about the priorities.
The President also said that Abela was interested in the developments on’ hydrocarbon exploitation and he briefed him on the efforts of Cyprus government, as well as Turkish threats concerning Cypurs’ EEZ.
“He expressed his full support to Cyprus. The President also knows that we have agreements with Israel, Lebanon and Egypt, and he welcomed the fact”, he added.
Last December Houston based Noble Energy, which has a concession for exploratory drilling in Cyprus` block 12, announced that initial data that emerged from exploratory drilling and the evaluation checks carried out indicate the existence of a natural gas reservoir ranging from 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet (tcf) with a gross mean of 7 tcf. Cyprus received 25 bids from companies and international joint ventures in the second licensing round for the island`s remaining 12 offshore blocks that took place on May 11.
Turkey has continuously doubted Cyprus’ sovereign right to carry out exploratory drilling in its EEZ.
Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third, is going to assume the EU Presidency on July 1st for a period of 6 months.
Turkey which aspires to join the EU, does not recognize Cyprus and said that it will have no relations with the Republic during the Presidency.