It is important that Cyprus is represented in the EU Council of Ministers so that the views of the country are also heard, the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, said on Friday after her first meeting with the new President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, at the Presidential Palace. The President of the Republic stated the will of the Cypriot Government for an active presence in the EU Institutions, Government Spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis said after the meeting. In her statements, leaving the Presidential Palace, Kyriakides said that she had a first meeting with the new President of the Republic of Cyprus, and that they had the opportunity to touch on several issues concerning her own portfolio. She also said that she informed him about the issues she is working on in the coming months, that also concern Cyprus, such as the presentation at the end of March of a new strategy regarding the adequacy of medicines and equal access, and the issues regarding the new legislation on animal welfare. At the same time, she added, they agreed with President Christodoulides, that there will be a very close cooperation as regards her portfolio and the competent Ministers. Asked about the President’s instructions for a strong presence of the Ministers in EU institutions, Kyriakides noted that Cyprus is a member state of the EU and that, it should have a place and an opinion as a country in the decisions made in the Councils. She noted that she, as a European Commissioner, takes part in the Councils that concern the issues of her own portfolios, and is in close cooperation with all the Ministers of the member states, ‘but it is certainly important that our country is also represented in the Councils so that our opinions is heard’. The Government Spokesman, in his statements said that during the meeting Kyriakides congratulated the President of the Republic on assuming his duties, while the President congratulated her on the valuable work she is carrying out at the EU level. He said that, the President of the Republic ‘stated once again the will of the Cypriot Government for an active presence in the EU Institutions’, and referred to the instructions he has given to the Ministers that they all must attend the Councils of Ministers of the EU and that Cyprus has a strong voice in the Councils, that the Cabinet is informed about the priorities of the EU and that Cyprus, as a member state, makes interventions of substance at EU level, always taking into account the role that the EU can play also in internal governance. He also said that the President of the Republic referred to the contacts he will have in the coming weeks and briefed the Commissioner on his proposal for a more active involvement of the EU in terms of breaking the deadlock and the progress of the negotiations as regards the Cyprus problem. He also informed Kyriakides about the telephone communication he had with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and about the topics on the agenda at the March European Council.
Source: Cyprus News Agency