Frixos Dalitis
Special reference to the case of Cyprus and the specificity of the Green Line includes the text agreed yesterday in the framework of the Conference on the Security of the Union's External Borders, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, between the Ministers of Interior of the Member States and European officials. for the joint statement to be announced today, in relation to the treatment of immigrants.
The text makes it clear that the Green Line is not the EU's external border and the need to support countries under pressure from immigration. Horizontal sanctions are also reported for the first time “in order to avoid possible political instrumentalization of illegal immigration by third parties”.
The text understands the pursuit of the front-line ministers of the Member States to adopt a common position on both the need for effective guarding of the external borders and the tightening of security measures.
At the same time, as we are informed, the repeated contacts and the insistence of the Minister of Interior Nikos Nouris regarding the necessity in which measures are decided to be included with a special report and the Green Line with the indication that it is not the external border of our country, seem to brought result.
According to information from “F”, in the text of the joint statement that is expected to be released today, Cyprus succeeded in including a clear reference in paragraph 3 that “the Green Line is not our external border” but also in paragraph 5 that “Member States and the Green Line in the case of Cyprus, as well as Member States under migratory pressure, must be effectively supported in order to be able to defend the interests of the EU as a whole and to ensure a high level of Member States “.
This is essentially a ten-point text which will be the joint statement of the interior ministers. The references to paragraphs 1 and 2 are particularly important, as stated in the first paragraph: “The security and integrity of the Schengen area must not be compromised. An area without internal border controls can only function effectively if the external borders are properly protected. “Decisive efforts and additional resources are needed to strengthen our resilience to current or future challenges.”
The second paragraph of the text also states: “The EU has seen the exploitation of illegal immigration as a means of exerting political pressure. In order to prevent the possible political instrumentalization of illegal immigration by third parties, we must strengthen our ability to act proactively and respond quickly, effectively and decisively, including through diplomatic action, a common European approach and voice, and effective measures to protect border and horizontal sanctions, respecting our international obligations “.
Finally, paragraph 8 states, inter alia: “While working on the pressing challenges at the external borders (on the Green Line in the case of Cyprus), we must also strengthen the Common European Asylum System and step up work to reduce incentives. illegal immigration, the prevention of abuse in the asylum system, the exclusion of “asylum markets” and the manipulation of human lives by government agents or criminal networks, and pave the way for a sound and orderly system in which EU Member States have an effective control over who enters and resides in the EU, while ensuring protection for those who really need it “.
