President Nikos Christodoulides will officially address Greece's Parliament on May 14, following an invitation from House Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis, who extended the invitation on Friday, during a meeting in Nicosia between the two.
Kaklamanis described it as a "historic moment."
During Friday's meeting, Christodoulides thanked Kaklamanis for the invitation, calling it a “great honour” for him and the Republic of Cyprus.
Referring to his participation in the European Council in Brussels, Christodoulides said that together with the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, they achieved specific goals that they had set.
He noted the discussion on the activation of Article 42.7 by the European Union, and spoke about the immediate response from Greece, for which he thanked the President of the Hellenic Parliament on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus and the Cypriot people.
Addressing energy costs
He went on to say that the issues of competitiveness were also discussed with particular emphasis on the issue of energy costs. In this regard, the President of the Republic said that all member states, in cooperation with the European Commission, will proceed with some very specific measures to address the increased cost of energy.
The measures will be targeted and will apply for a specific period, he noted, adding that “we will constantly assess the state of affairs”. He also explained that it was decided that each member state will consult directly with the European Commission because each country has a different energy mix, noting that the response from the President of the European Commission was positive.
Diplomacy to end the war?
Christodoulides pointed out that the situation as it is developing in the wider Middle East, and in particular the need to take an initiative that will lead to de-escalation, was also discussed at length. As he said, "this state of affairs works against all of us, in many areas, and it is necessary for the European Union, in cooperation with the states of the region - especially the Gulf states, the Middle East states and the United States - to take a joint initiative, to see how the conditions for de-escalation and ending this difficult state of affairs are created".
War does not solve problems, but diplomacy does, stressed the President of the Republic, noting that "there are no dead ends in diplomacy today. Despite the difficulties and problems, a very specific proposal should be put before all those involved, so that this crisis can be ended", he underlined.
Souce: CNA