Cyprus provided EUR 3.5 mln in Lebanon assistance

The importance of the geographical position of Cyprus in Southeastern Europe was stressed at a Lebanon Crisis Seminar, organised by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Thursday in Nicosia.
The seminar, which was held with the participation of around 50 representatives of crisis management teams from EU member states and representatives of the European Commission, aims at developing further the discussion about enhancing the EU’s emergency and crisis response capabilities, as well as cooperation and coordination between partners in times of crises, so that a number of relevant policies are identified, mapped out and further developed.
In his speech, Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus Ambassador Alexandros Zenon said that Cyprus helped in the Lebanon crisis in numerous different ways, ranging from offering logistical assistance, accommodation and shelter to providing food, transportation, medical care and welfare aid.
“Having ourselves suffered the consequences of the 1974 Turkish invasion and the continuing occupation of a large chunk of our territory, the general awareness and sensitivity of the people of Cyprus was well manifested during the Lebanon crisis,” he said.
From the start of the crisis in July 2006 and throughout its duration, he said, “we made our emergency services and facilities available to the international community for the repatriation of foreign nationals from Lebanon.”
Furthermore, he noted that the Republic of Cyprus has also served as the base through which international humanitarian aid was channeled to the affected Lebanese areas. The facilities are currently being used by the international peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
“Almost 60,000 foreign nationals arrived in Cyprus for voluntary repatriation. More than 25,000 were nationals of EU member states, there were almost 24,000 North American and Australian nationals (US, Canada and Australia), 8,000 Lebanese (from the total of about 60,000, a sizeable percentage were dual nationals of Lebanon) and 1,700 Indians. In total, nationals of 114 countries were received and offered assistance in Cyprus.” he said.
He further underlined that Cyprus approached the whole issue not from a purely humanitarian point of view, noting that despite the fact that the financial burden of the whole operation was anything but negligible, the net cost can be estimated to be around 3.5 million euros, Cyprus never asked for any compensation or reward.
“After all, humanitarian aid ought to be offered generously and unconditionally and it should be seen as such, purely humanitarian. This is something that all Cypriots know too well. Without their help and voluntarism, the efficient and effective management of the Lebanon crisis would not have been made possible,” he said.
He further referred to Cyprus‘ accession to the EU, noting that ”working alongside our partners in diverse fields enables us to participate in the alignment of European standards in these fields, and create a kind of a pan-European space.”
Such an indicative “pan-European space” is precisely that of the enhancement of the EU’s emergency and crisis response capabilities, as well as cooperation and coordination between partners in times of crises, he said.
As regards the original idea of organising the Seminar, Zenon said that it had actually been conceived by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Angel Moratinos, during a meeting in Greece, when, after a fruitful exchange of views on crisis management and response, “we agreed that the lessons learned, particularly from the recent catastrophes of the Tsunami and the Lebanon crisis, call for a better coordination and strengthening of our existing capabilities.”
“It goes without saying that the need to work together in similar situations is more than evident, because no single state or institution, and for that matter organisation, provides the full range of instruments to manage crises circumstances,” he concluded.