The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, defended yesterday in Nicosia “a dialogued and definitive solution to the Cypriot issue” and assured that “Spain will work in this direction during its Presidency of the EU Council”. He also pledged in Malta to close, also during the Spanish Presidency, a migration agreement based on “the necessary balance between responsibility and solidarity”.
Sánchez began yesterday in Cyprus and Malta and will conclude today in Italy a new tour of the various European capitals to prepare the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, which will begin on July 1. In Nicosia, the head of the Executive was received by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, with whom he held a meeting and a working lunch and made a joint institutional statement to the media. According to the Embassy of Cyprus in Madrid, Sanchez took advantage of his stay at the Presidential Palace to lay a wreath at the statue of the first president of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III.
“I want to begin my remarks by reiterating something very important for the Cypriot people and, of course, also for the president and his government, and that is Spain’s resounding support for the achievement of a dialogued and definitive solution to the Cyprus question,” Sánchez said during the statement to the media.
This solution, he continued, “must be based on the respect for International Law and the different resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and must take the form of an agreement based on a bicommunal and bizonal federation that will guarantee the coexistence, peace and prosperity of its inhabitants”. “This is what he has expressed to President Nikos and, of course, Spain will work in this direction during its Presidency of the EU Council with the help, no doubt, of Cyprus,” he assured. “Of course, Cyprus and its government can count on this initiative to relaunch and resume the process of dialogue between the two sides,” he added.
“I would like to thank Spain for its position on the Cyprus problem,” Nikos Christodoulides stated, for his part. “Spain has a particular sensitivity on issues relating to sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence,” the Cypriot leader continued. In Christodoulides’ view, the EU should maintain “a stronger and more proactive involvement” in his country’s efforts “to break the deadlock and resume talks from where they left off.” “The role of the Council Presidency is important in such initiatives and in this regard, but also due to the fact that Spain has excellent relations with Turkey, we believe it can help our effort to involve the EU more actively and effectively in the efforts to break the deadlock,” he added.
The country has been divided since 1974 between a self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Ankara, and the Republic of Cyprus, a majority Greek Cypriot entity with its capital in Nicosia, which does have international recognition and is even listed as an EU member state. During his time as Foreign Minister, Nikos Christodoulides received in December 2021 in Nicosia the head of the Spanish diplomacy, José Manuel Albares, with whom he agreed on the need to improve bilateral cooperation and coordination, especially on issues of mutual interest on the European agenda, such as EU relations with third countries, including Turkey.
During yesterday’s meeting, the two leaders defended the need to advance in the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, encouraging both the internal and external aspects and “building bridges that move the twenty-seven away from a bloc policy on this issue”, according to Moncloa. The two countries are located at both ends of the Mediterranean and, in this sense, both leaders agreed on the importance of promoting a stable framework of relations between the EU and the Southern Neighborhood.
Malta
Pedro Sánchez then moved on to the Republic of Malta, where he was received by the Prime Minister, Robert Abela, at the Albergue de Castilla (the Prime Minister’s office, so called because it housed, in the 16th century, the headquarters of the Knights of the Order of St. John of Castile, Leon and Portugal), in Valletta.
At the end of the bilateral meeting, Sánchez and Abela offered a joint institutional declaration in which the President of the Government reiterated his desire to close, during the Spanish Presidency, an “inclusive” migration agreement, based on “the necessary balance between responsibility and solidarity”, which strengthens “the external dimension of migration”, including aid to the countries of origin and transit of migration, and which builds “bridges to avoid the blocs of countries” in this matter.
For his part, the Social Democrat Robert Abela declared that, for his country, “irregular immigration is a constant pressure” and warned, in this respect, that “the EU must do more” in this matter and that “Malta can play an important role due to its strategic position”.
