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The Republic of Cyprus will be assisted in the management of all asylum and reception procedures and with generous Community funding, said the Vice President of the European Commission Margaritis Schoinas, noting at the same time that there should be a big wave of returns because without the returns, these who do not have the right to be in EU territory “we will not succeed”.
He also said that in March he will visit Istanbul and personally address the issue of the causes of migration flows.
This morning the Vice President of the Commission will have a meeting with President Anastasiadis and the Minister of Interior. In the context of today's meeting at the Presidential Palace and with the participation of the competent European Commissioner, a new strategic memorandum of cooperation between the Republic of Cyprus and the EU will be signed.
Mr. Schoinas visited points of the Green Line yesterday, accompanied by the Minister of Interior Nikos Nouris. & Nbsp;
Commission and its collaborators in Cyprus is “the culmination of the recent visits of European officials that we have had recently.” “It clearly shows what we are asking for,” he said, “the practical support of the European Union to the huge problem that our country is facing.”
READ ALSO: & nbsp; Schoinas: Cyprus will be assisted in the management of asylum
Addressing Mr. Schoinas, Mr. Nouris said that “our country, Mr. Vice President, you know very well, unfortunately, the For the last five years, it has been the EU Member State that receives the largest number of immigrants, and of course this has created a great burden for the Republic of Cyprus, both in terms of management and, of course, in terms of reception. “
So we are here today in the acritic of Athienou, said Mr. Nouris, “in one of the many places, which are an open wound on the green line and through which dozens of illegal immigrants pass on a daily basis, because very simply, as you can see, “There is absolutely no obstacle to restricting these crossings and this is something that we need to manage in the best possible way, given the weight the country is facing.”
That is why, he said, “we are claiming EU support for both the management of the Green Line, which, I want to emphasize for the umpteenth time, is not our external border, but we are claiming yes, the implementation of management measures. by analogy with Europe's external borders in order to reduce this very problem. “
At the same time and for the same reason and because we know the root cause of the arrival of these migrants, the irregular flows, we claim, said the Minister of Interior “and we ask the FRONTEX service of the European Union, both the surveillance of the southern coastal areas of Turkey by boats with irregular migrants depart daily, as well as the placement of a FRONTEX representative at Istanbul Airport to check on flights to the occupied Tympus, from which also arrive daily particularly African illegal immigrants, mainly from the countries of origin. Africa “.
The Minister of Interior stressed that “we ask the EU to advise Turkey to stop this instrumentalization of immigration” . & Nbsp;
For his part, Mr. & nbsp; Schoinas said that “from the first moment I took office, in December 2019, I was convinced that no one can manage EU immigration policy unless it is in the field, if it is not where there is a problem, next to people who manage it, and in the local communities “.
” I was in Evros on Shrove Monday 2020, I was hours later in the fire, in Moria in Lesvos, I went with the Pope again, I was in Lithuania, but “What I see today on the green line shocks me,” he said.
The Vice-President of the Commission went on to say that/b>. It creates, he said, “a big problem not only for the Republic of Cyprus, but also for Europe because here we are standing there are two very important peculiarities”.
The first peculiarity, he said, “is that as he rightly said and the friendly minister, here we are not standing on an external border of the Union, here we are in Europe and the second peculiarity is that while we are in an EU Member State, which due to its size and available resources needs to carry on its shoulders, an extremely large , a disproportionate burden of responsibility for the whole of Europe “.
My presence here, noted Mr. Schoinas, “is not a symbolic presence, which shows that your problem is a common European problem. It shows that it should be the occasion for action, not for words. You know me. “I have never been a proponent of a Europe of analysis, I have always been a proponent of a Europe of action.” First, he said, “Let's look one by one at the causes of the origin of these flows, and address them on the Turkish coast, and on Turkish Airlines flights and at Istanbul airport.” He informed that “in my previous contacts with the Turkish authorities I found that there is a basis of good will and conciliation which he attributed to Belarus. I want to believe that we will find a corresponding field of cooperation here as well “.
Funding but also returns to their countries
EU Vice President Margaritis Schoinas also said that the second area of action, which she described as equally important, “is that the Republic of Cyprus should be assisted in managing all asylum and reception procedures with generous Community funding and the third element is that there must be a big wave of returns because without the returns of those who do not have the right to be in the territory of the European Union we will not succeed “.
According to Mr. Schoinas, “in these three fields of action, tomorrow (today) at the Presidential Palace with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, with the Minister of Interior and in connection with Brussels with the competent Commissioner and all “EU Services are turning the page on immigration management, we are signing a new strategic memorandum of cooperation between the Republic of Cyprus and the EU, in which the role of Nikos Nouris was extremely important”.
“We are mobilizing every available action, resources and service at European level, we have an action plan that will be the annex of this memorandum and from tomorrow we will pass to the operational management of the problem”, he assured.
He noted that < we must stop working in immigration in Europe as firefighters. Let's run from crisis to crisis. It's time to work as architects. A new holistic, coherent European framework for managing migration and asylum. “
“The proposals we have made are on the table, the negotiation is intensifying, the French Presidency has taken the negotiation very warmly,” he said. Addressing the Minister of the Interior, he said: I ask the Green Line to ask the Republic of Cyprus to be a protagonist in this negotiation, I want you to lead this positive response because we need this great European agreement, as soon as possible. “
“And it goes without saying, but I'm saying that I want you and the Republic of Cyprus to believe that in all your efforts I will be a supporter and helper, not just a friend,” he concluded.
< b> The gladiator of the “Margaritis” mosaic
The Vice President of the EU will have a meeting today with the President of the Republic Nikos Anastasiadis, with Immigration at the center. Margaritis Schoinas, who on Saturday attended and spoke at the conference on the future of the EU held by the Glafkos Clerides Institute, also met with DISY President Averof Neophytou. At the working lunch that followed the conference, Margaritis Schoinas spoke about the long friendship that binds him to the president of DISY, to whom he expressed his support and on his way to the presidential elections. He even recalled an earlier visit to Cyprus during which the president of DISY guided him to Kourion. At one point, as he said, Averof Neophytou opened a door and showed him a mosaic with two gladiators, one of whom was named Margaritis.
