Cyprus President meets with Hellenic Parliament President

Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos has expressed deep gratitude to the Hellenic Parliament for its support to Cyprus’ accession to the European Union, during a meeting he had here Tuesday with the President of the Parliament Demetris Sioufas.

Papadopoulos said that “the decision of the Hellenic Parliament that all ten candidate states, including Cyprus, should accede to the EU and its firm stand that if Cyprus does not join, no other candidate should join the EU, were very decisive for our accession.”

“Without this policy decision, all our economic and other achievements would not have been enough to help us accede,” the President stressed.

“Since then the Hellenic Parliament has supported all efforts for a just, viable and functional settlement of the Cyprus question and today we receive the same assurances from the President of the Parliament and I thank him for this,” President Papadopoulos said, underlying that he looks forward to more frequent contacts and to a closer cooperation of the two parliaments and the Cyprus government.

Sioufas said that during his meeting with Cyprus’ political leadership, both during his recent official visit to Cyprus and in Athens, the excellent relations between the Greek and the Cyprus people and the Greek and Cyprus government were reaffirmed.

He added that both sides have the same goal, which is the settlement of the Cyprus question, on the basis of UN resolutions and EU principles for a viable settlement and support for the July agreement, which the UN brokered last year.

“The Hellenic Parliament continues to support Cyprus’ struggle” Sioufas assured and expressed the gratitude of the people of Greece for Cyprus’ support during the recent fires in Greece and for Cyprus’ decision to undertake the rebuilding of the Greek village of Artemida, which suffered extensive damage during summer fires and lost 14 of its 100 inhabitants to the flames.

Later Papadopoulos met with his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias but no statements were made after the meeting.