ATHENS — "I am really moved and honoured to be in the Greek capital after the invitation to celebrate together and honour the Greek people, 200 years after the beginning of the liberation struggle of 1821," President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, said on Wednesday during joint statements with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, immediately after their meeting at the Maximos Mansion.

He spoke of "a struggle from which Cyprus did not abstain but actively participated in, suffered sacrifices but also from which it was inspired to rid itself of the same yoke 46 years later. Not only for Hellenism on Cyprus but also for our Turkish Cypriot compatriots."

"What we seek and have found together is that a fair and sustainable but highly functional solution to the Cyprus problem will ensure the interests of the entire Cypriot people, whether Greek Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots. Besides, it is well known that we have lived together peacefully for centuries, we have co-created and, unfortunately, what happened has led to a state of affairs that does not so much concern the interests of the Turkish Cypriots but those of a specific force, namely Turkey", underlined the Cyprus president.

He described the meeting with Mitsotakis as absolutely creative and he said: "There were two issues: the informal conference to be held in Geneva on April 27-29 and the forthcoming European Council, in order to coordinate and take joint action."

He stressed that the aim is, on the one hand, to ensure the success of the conference, which would mean the creation of the necessary conditions to give the Secretary General the opportunity to convene a new meeting on Cyprus that would lead us to a solution as described in the joint statements of both leaders (with the presence of the Secretary General on November 25, 2019 in Berlin), a position that coincides with Cyprus long-standing positions and does not depart from the United Nations resolutions for the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus into a functioning and viable state, which at the same time will not deviate from the basic principles of the EU.