Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Constantinos Kombos, after his meeting with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, Mr Igli Hasani

Let me, first of all, take the opportunity to formally, once again, welcome my good friend Igli and his delegation to Cyprus, to the Ministry.

Today we had an excellent opportunity to try and map out the pathway towards enhancing our bilateral relations. This is the direct instructions we have from our respective leaderships and we agree that we have to make maximum use of next year’s anniversary. It is going to be the 35th anniversary since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries so we want to work together and make sure that we have something concrete to showcase for that. It is going to be also coinciding with the Presidency of the Council of the European Union by the Republic of Cyprus, and of course, with the rapid progress that Albania has been showing, the rapid pace of progressing towards its European Union path.

Our discussions today focused on a number of issues. Starting at the bilateral level, as I said, we agree on the need to strengthen the institutional structure and cooperation between the two countries. First and foremost, as you have just witnessed, with the signing of the MoU on diplomatic training. Moreover, we have a few pending instruments in place that we need to conclude, starting with the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. Hopefully, the negotiations in October would be paving the way for a very positive outcome. And that could act also as a gateway for more economic and trade activity. And there are a number of other instruments in the pipeline that we aim to conclude as soon as possible.

In addition, we identified that we have a very important common element, which is the impact of tourism on our respective economies. And we agree that we need to work closely together and share good practices and enhance corporation in that field. To that end, we will be asking our colleagues, the Ministers responsible for tourism, to work together in this direction. Also, I think business to business cooperation through exchange of delegations and meetings, through the respective chambers of commerce, is also a very positive step forward.

We also had a discussion on the Cyprus Question, and I want to once again, in public, express our deep appreciation for the principled stand of Albania towards the Cyprus Question. We remain, of course, fully committed to the restart of substantive negotiations, always and exclusively within the framework that the UN Security Council has set.

In addition, we discussed the situation in the Western Balkans. For us, for the European Union it is a region of priority in terms of enlargement, and we want to make sure that enlargement takes place as a positive factor for both the European Union and the countries involved. That is, of course, founded on a very simple principle that is a merit-based process, and on this, I want to commend and congratulate Albania for all the significant progress we have witnessed and I want to reassure my good friend Igli that Cyprus’ support will be steadfast. Hoping to welcome Albania and other countries from the Western Balkans into the European Union.

Finally, we discussed regional developments. On Ukraine we agreed that there needs to be intensive negotiation, leading to comprehensive, just and lasting peace in accordance with the UN charter, and an agreement on a ceasefire could be the springboard for achieving or reaching that stage of the negotiations. Similarly, on the situation in the Middle East and Gaza, a ceasefire and the release of the hostages could unlock and open the way for termination of the war. In the meantime, we agree that we should have unhindered flow of humanitarian aid at scale, and this is something for which the Republic of Cyprus has been taking practical steps, not only now, but in the recent past as well. Also, Cyprus will be participating in the New York Conference on the two-state solution hosted by France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the next few days.

So, with these few thoughts, dear Igli, once again welcome to Cyprus. Thank you for the productive discussion. I’m looking forward to the continuation of the deliberations.

(ΑP/IA/NZ)

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