CAIRO – Cyprus is one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the new enhanced Strategic Partnership between the European Union (EU) and Egypt, said President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides.
In an interview with Al Ahram Weekly out Wednesday, President Christodoulides explained why Cyprus was lending its enthusiastic support to the new Strategic Partnership against the background of already excellent Egyptian-Cypriot relations.
On Sunday, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides joined European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, at a high-level meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi to usher in the new Strategic Partnership Agreement between Egypt and the EU.
Answering a question on how he evaluates Egyptian-Cypriot relations and whether there are plans to boost relations in various fields, the Cypriot president said:
“Cyprus and Egypt not only have excellent relations, but they are also strategic partners. They have a close co-operative relationship and common objectives, striving to ensure security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean based on the principles of international law and sovereign equality. This relationship has been evolving since antiquity and is solidified in all aspects, both at an institutional and a popular level,” he said.
He added “Our aim is to maintain and enhance, in any way possible, the strong political and security cooperation we have, to further operationalize our cooperation in the energy field, and to boost our economic relations with increased tourism, trade, and investments. We can do more by way of cultural exchanges, educational cooperation, and labor market interactions. Following my three visits to Egypt during 2023, I look forward to the 2nd Cyprus-Egypt Government to Government (G2G) Summit meeting, anticipated for 2024, to enhance our bilateral relations across the board.”
Asked about “What joint projects are underway?”
He said “There are always new agreements under discussion and prospects for new joint projects. One of the most tangible fields we are looking to enhance cooperation in is that of human resources, where Egypt has much to offer due to its young and dynamic workforce. Several other agreements, both bilateral and trilateral, are under discussion with a view to being concluded at the next bilateral G2G Summit and the next trilateral summit, respectively.”
“The East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), founded as a result of an Egyptian initiative, is a valuable tool for regional energy cooperation among states that want to cooperate on equal terms based on mutual respect and adhering to international law with the common objective of seeing our people prosper and our region emerge as an energy hub,” he added.
“Sharing its logic and purpose, Cyprus has supported the forum since its inception and held its presidency in 2022. During this time, the forum established a Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, whose role will be to provide scientific and technical expertise, including on decarbonization and climate change mitigation. We are pleased to see the EMGF continue to build its institutional capacity,” he stressed.
“Of course, cooperation within the EMGF is over and above the bilateral energy cooperation existing between Cyprus and Egypt, which is maintained by frequent exchanges at the highest political level, as well as the technical level, towards meeting the same goals,” he said.
Replying to a question on measures that have been taken regarding international migration and the refugee crises, he said “Cyprus is facing the greatest migration problem amongst the EU member states. Specifically, approximately 5.5 percent of the population, four times higher than the EU average, are new asylum applicants or international protection holders.”
“During the last 11 months, we have been implementing a new approach to address the migration crisis. Our policy is based on four pillars, which include reducing arrivals, upgrading infrastructure, accelerating application procedures and increasing returns. During this period, we have taken a number of measures to better deal with the problem. We have doubled the number of case examiners, thus succeeding in reducing the time needed for a case to be concluded, increased the number of decisions, limited the access to the labor market, and intensively promoted the voluntary return program with financial incentives,” he added.
“These measures have resulted in a decrease in the number of arrivals and applications. Specifically, there was a major trend regarding the arrivals of migrants compared to 2022. In 2023, the total number of new asylum applications dropped by 46 per cent compared to 2022, while the number of arrivals of migrants from African countries was reduced by 72 per cent. Finally, the number of returns was significantly increased to 66 percent,” he said.
“For the first time, we have a positive rate in terms of people leaving Cyprus in comparison to those arriving on the island. The fact that during 2023 we had a 116 percent return-arrival rate is remarkable, especially taking into consideration the situation in the rest of Europe. As the data show, in January 2024 the return-arrival rate reached 138 percent, ranking Cyprus first among the EU member states,” he further noted.
“However, I cannot but express our great concern as regards the unprecedently large migration flows arriving from Syria. Due to its geographical proximity to this country, Cyprus is exposed to disproportionately large numbers of illegal migrants arriving from the area, which puts pressure on our reception system and makes economic and social integration difficult. In this regard, our efforts are now focused on the re-evaluation by the EU collectively of the state of affairs in Syria, or at least of specific areas in the country, based on existing realities and the evaluation of the EU Asylum Agency,” he said.
“In close collaboration with the European Commission, we also aim to enhance the presence of Europol in the Eastern Mediterranean, so as to better fight migrant smuggling. We strongly believe that cooperation between Europol, the Cyprus Police, and the Lebanese Authorities is essential on this point, especially taking into consideration the geopolitical developments in our region,” he concluded.
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