President Nikos Christodoulides has thanked his counterparts who took part in the 13th MED9 summit in Croatia for their continued support for efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, which was underlined again in the joint declaration adopted.
Speaking at a joint press conference after the summit, Christodoulides said Cyprus had made use of its geographical position, building its capabilities around the aim of serving as a stable, reliable and predictable partner between Europe and the wider Middle East.
He pointed to the Amalthea maritime humanitarian corridor, the evacuation of European nationals and citizens of third countries from the region, the climate change initiative and the Regional Firefighting Centre.
On the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework, Christodoulides said there was a clear need to give greater political weight to the Mediterranean dimension of the European agenda in a practical way.
He added that the particularities of member states had to be taken into account. For Cyprus, he said, this meant recognising specific constraints linked to its geographical position, its exclusion from major European transport and energy networks, the absence of significant industrial sectors and its location on the south-eastern border of the European Union.
