Cyprus President sees increased opportunities to enhance relations with Russia

Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos believes that prospects for closer ties with Russia are hopeful and promising, adding that the energy sector is an area in which there can be enhanced cooperation, especially once Cyprus acquires the necessary infrastructure for the production of energy.
Addressing a dinner, organised by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Cyprus-Russia Association, the President extended warm thanks and gratitude to Moscow for its unwavering support for the struggle of the people of Cyprus to end the Turkish occupation of the island’s northern part.
He stressed that the basis of the solution in Cyprus is a bizonal bicommunal federation and reiterated that the only available route today which could break the current deadlock in efforts towards a settlement is the implementation of a UN-brokered agreement, last July, to pave the way for substantive negotiations.
Papadopoulos said that bilateral relations have always been harmonious and based on mutual understanding and solidarity, stressing that Russia played a decisive role in the efforts made to prevent efforts to impose a solution that did not serve Cyprus and its people and would lead to the undermining of the Republic of Cyprus.
“Russia‘s principled position was for the actual respect of the democratically expressed will of the Cypriot people,” he said.
In April 2004, he recalled, three days before a referendum on a UN proposed solution plan, the Russian Federation objected to the issuing of a decision by the Security Council in support of the plan, the Annan plan, which would have preempted the peoples’ verdict.
“I, therefore, consider it my duty to again express our warm thanks and gratitude for the continuous unselfish and principled support of the Russian Federation, to the struggle of the Cypriot people to rid themselves of the faits accomplis of the invasion and occupation,” he added.
Commenting on the current situation in Cyprus, the President said that the Turkish side is now questioning the solution of a bizonal bicommunal fereration, and explained that it now wants to upgrade
its illegal secessionist entity in the occupied part of Cyprus, projecting the need to lift the so-called «financial isolation» of Turkish Cypriots which they now call “international isolation».
“Promoting this political upgrading requires the annulment of Security Council Resolutions 541 and 550. This development alone proves that the stance of Russia, France and China at the Security Council was correct and wise. This responsible attitude also denotes long-term foresight on their part,” he added.
The government, he went on to say, considers that the only suitable way to create the conditions for breaking the deadlock and prepare the ground for negotiations which can lead to a solution of the Cyprus problem is by implementing the 8 July 2006 Agreement.
“We believe that a solution to the Cyprus problem must be based on a bizonal bicommunal federation with the true meaning and content of these terms. A solution means the reunification of the country, economy, society and the institutions. As businessmen you know better than I do that the unity of the economy constitutes a decisive link in the unity of a state,” he said.
Turning to other matters, he said energy is a field bearing an ever increasing significance in bilateral relations, expressing hope that once the necessary infrastructure is in place in Cyprus the possibilities and prospects of cooperation in this important field will be enhanced.
He welcomed the interest shown on the part of Russian companies in participating in the efforts to extract hydrocarbon in the sea area south of Cyprus.
“It is obvious that the possibilities and prospects for further development and strengthening of the relations between our two counties, in all fields, are all the more promising and auspicious. It is up to all of us to use them to the maximum, to the mutual benefit of our countries and peoples. I am convinced that all together we can successfully respond to this challenge,” he added.
Referring to the need to issue visas for Russian citizens visiting Cyprus, the President recalled his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the matter when they met.
“Cyprus, being a European Union member, has an obligation and a responsibility to implement faithfully EU directives and decisions,” he explained, saying that the government has a priority to try to overcome the difficulties.
He said at two recent meetings special and distinct procedures for the admission and active involvement of Russian citizens in Cyprus were decided.
He noted that irrespective of governmental decisions and procedures, the most important and most explicit proof of the feelings of the Cypriot people towards Russians is the spontaneous expression of love and appreciation on the part of the Cypriot citizens and the society, and concluded “these feelings are not the result of financial calculations.”