Those who prefer to believe what they hear from Mr. Davutoglu rather than what they hear from Mr. Venizelos, their concerns are of their own making.(Ioannis Kasoulides, Cypriot FM)

Statements following the joint meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Energy Ministers of Greece and the Republic of Cyprus (17 December 2014):


Hellenic MFA, Wednesday, 17 December 2014:
Below is the text of the statements made following today’s joint meeting, at the Foreign Ministry, of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos, Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, Environment, Energy & Climate Change Minister Yiannis Maniatis, and Cypriot Minister for Energy, Commerce, Industry & Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis:

E. VENIZELOS: Good morning. We have the very great pleasure of welcoming to Greece, to Athens, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, my dear friend and colleague Ioannis Kasoulides, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Tourism of the Republic of Cyprus, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis. And, naturally, Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Yiannis Maniatis, as today, here, the first meeting took place of the Energy and Foreign Affairs Ministers of the two countries.

At the last meeting I had with Mr. Kasoulides, we decided to encourage and organize the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries on issues of energy and maritime policy. And in the context of this policy decision of ours, we decided to hold this meeting today, so that we could exchange all the information and have utilized all the current data, so that we can chart a twofold strategy. A strategy that concerns our foreign policy as well as security policy. A strategy that concerns energy, the exploitation of natural resources, the prospects for growth, jobs and prosperity in the two countries, as well as in our common space, which is the Eastern Mediterranean.

Of course, the Eastern Mediterranean belongs to all of the countries of the region, and that is why we – Greece and Cyprus – consistently promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation configurations that are of this peaceful development nature and are aimed politically at stability and peace in a region that, unfortunately, is very close to the hotspots of many crises. This is the first time we have had such a large number of crises in this region, as we also have, of course, in the European Union’s Eastern Neighbourhood.

Our meeting comes as a follow-up to the trilateral Greece-Cyprus-Egypt summit meeting in Cairo and the Cairo Declaration. You know that very many trilateral ministerial meetings came earlier. This comes as a follow-up to the trilateral Greece-Cyprus-Israel meetings. It comes as a follow-up to the Greek-Turkish High-Level Cooperation Council. And of course it comes as a follow-up to very many meetings on the European level, in a multilateral framework or the narrower, bilateral framework the Energy Ministers have formed.

The situation is evolving. The most important development of recent weeks is, of course, the rapid fall in the price of oil on the global market, which impacts the price of natural gas. From this perspective, we are very interested in checking the viability of various plans and including plans of special interest, bilateral, in the pan-European networks, which can be financed by community funds. And from this point of view the recent meeting Messrs. Maniatis and Lakkotrypis had with the competent Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr. Šefčovič, are of very great importance.

The Cypriot side briefed us on the exploration under way in the offshore fields that are currently being explored. We briefed the Cypriot side on the course of the offshore field tenders in the Ionian and south of Crete. The Cypriot side briefed us on the agreements on delimitation of the maritime zones with the countries of the region. And we briefed the Cypriot side on the course of the consultations with regard to the delimitation of maritime zones, because we have been in consultations with Turkey for a number of years, with Egypt, with Libya. We want to transform the agreement we have had with Italy since 1977, on the delimitation of the continental shelf, into an agreement on the delimitation of the EEZ. And we carried out a general review of all the developments in the wider region – not just in the Eastern Mediterranean, but also in Southeast Europe and in the wider neighbourhood of the European Union, including a look at the European Union’s relations with Russia.

You will remember, perhaps – not this year, at the beginning of the year – there was an ambitious meeting in Budapest of the Foreign Ministers of the 4 Visegrad states and the 3 Balkan EU member states: Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. The prospect of a new corridor was tabled: the Central Corridor. Now we are talking based on the solution of these or other permutations, monitoring very closely – as I said earlier – the international developments and the subtle and often still unclear tones of what is being said internationally in reference to certain plans and thoughts. What is important is that this comprehensive cooperation between Greece and Cyprus is functioning on maritime issues, starting with energy.

And I remind you that this cooperation has other aspects. One very important aspect was the Agreement on Search and Rescue that we signed with Mr. Kasoulides a few months ago, here. And this is something that is of very great importance with regard to how we also perceive the relevant Chicago and Hamburg Conventions.

The developments are very important, promising. Energy, in any case, underpins all of the geopolitical planning and analyses historically. And this is also the case now. Of course, we are not one-dimensional, nor are we thinking in a reflexive manner. We are trying to check all of the information and synthesize it, because the analysis is much more important that the collection of information, and I believe that we are moving with great caution and safety within the framework of the strategy we have mapped out.

So I welcome, with great pleasure, Mr. Kasoulides and Mr. Lakkotrypis. I also express the sentiments of Yiannis Maniatis, and I ask Mr. Kasoulides to take the floor.

I. KASOULIDES: Thank you very much, Vaggeli. I would like to thank the Greek colleagues, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Evangelos Venizelos, and the Energy Minister, Mr. Maniatis, for arranging today’s meeting, which gave us the opportunity to review our cooperation in the sectors of energy and maritime policy. It was one of the decisions we made during my last visit here, and now it is being realized. We had the opportunity to exchange views on the next steps we need to take towards achieving the common national goals and pursuits.

This meeting is yet another practical manifestation of the will of Cyprus and Greece for further cooperation in the sectors of energy and maritime policy. Sectors that are of immediate interest to the European Union. And our countries have the potential, via the right initiatives and actions, to contribute to the European Union’s energy security.

Also joint are the efforts to create a peaceful and prosperous Eastern Mediterranean, without excluding any country, as long as the countries do not exclude themselves through policies that are hostile to other countries. All the countries of the Mediterranean can work together, exploiting their offshore wealth in the interest and for the prosperity of our peoples.

Just as coal and steel were the occasion for cooperation amongst the powers of Europe, creating the framework for the creation of the European Union, hydrocarbons can function in the same catalytic manner in the case of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Of course, during the meeting we again discussed the issue of the illegal Turkish actions within the Cypriot EEZ. At this point I would like once again to thank the Greek government, not just for its ongoing support, but also for the practical efforts to resolve this problem.

I believe that the less we say at this point, the better. Because this is what the national interest demands. But I would like to make the reminder that President Anastasiades was forced to suspend his participation in the negotiations due to the Turkish provocations and the universally accepted fact that negotiations cannot be carried out under conditions of threats and exaction.

the reopening of the dialogue remains our desire and goal, given that this is the only way to settle the Cyprus issue. But for this to happen, Turkey must withdraw its research vessel from the Cypriot EEZ and not repeat such actions in the future. Ankara should recognize that the interests of the Turkish Cypriots with regard to Cyprus’s natural resources have already been ensured within the framework of the negotiations, wherein there is convergence as to the fact that these natural resources will be a federal responsibility and be allocated in a fair manner, to the benefit of all Cypriots.

E. VENIZELOS: Thank you, my dear friend, Mr. Minister, for everything you said about Greece’s stance on the violation of the sovereign rights of Cyprus by Turkey, through the presence of the Barbaros in the Cypriot EEZ. I remind you that we always act in close consultation with President Anastasiades and the Cypriot government, and we will continue to do so, always with the aim of defending the existence and international legal personality, the sovereignty and the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus. And as we said in our relevant joint announcement from Brussels, with Mr. Kasoulides, when that has been ensured, our goal is the reopening of the negotiations, precisely as has been said by President Anastasiades, whose return from New York and return to his duties in Cyprus we await.

And let me take this opportunity, on behalf of the Greek government, to wish him a full recovery and speedy return to his duties.

JOURNALIST: I would like to ask about the points of convergence. Whether there is progress, specific progress, in the consultations with Turkey. Whether we can learn any details regarding the formula for de-escalating the tension. And I would also like to ask the Cypriot government whether the drilling will continue at field 9, in January, by the ENI consortium.

I. KASOULIDES: No, no progress has been made. I needn’t say anything else. We are open to continuing the efforts. As I said, the goal is a return to the talks. Yes, Cyprus’s energy programme will certainly continue.

JOURNALIST: There is concern – perhaps something more than concern – among a portion of Cypriot public opinion and news media; concern that arises from the summit meeting that took place here recently between Greece and Turkey. Davutoglu’s statements urged the Greek government with the phrase “come and let us work things out on the Cyprus issue, so that together we can exploit the natural resources.” He spoke of the gateway to Asia and the gateway to Europe, of which we have the one and they have the other. Is the objection and concern of the Cypriot side justified in the sense that Turkey wants to pull in Greece, as a guarantor power, so that they can take certain decisions together; decisions with which the Republic of Cyprus might not agree?

E. VENIZELOS: You give me the opportunity to reiterate that the Prime Minister and I decided to hold the 3rd Greek-Turkish High-Level Cooperation Council, here in Athens, only after we visited Cyprus, on 7 November. We had an in-depth discussion with President Anastasiades, with Foreign Minister Kasoulides, and with the heads of the Cypriot political parties. And together we deemed that the holding of this Council, and thus the direct talks on the level of Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers, would give us the chance to state, in the most genuine and clearest manner, the positions not only of Greece, but also of the Republic of Cyprus, on whose mandate we are acting, so that the escalation of tensions might be avoided, with respect, however, for the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus and with the Barbaros’s departure.

What Mr. Davutoglu said in the joint press conference, in the joint statements he made with the Greek Prime Minister, in Athens, has to be compared with what I myself said a week earlier, on my visit to Ankara, at the Ankara Palace, where I stated with absolute clarity the Greek position, which is also the Cypriot position, which is also the European position. That there is a violation in progress of the sovereign rights of a member state of the European Union and the United Nations. That the critical issue is the recognition of the existence and international legal personality of the Republic of Cyprus, as one of the 28 member states of the European Union, which Turkey wants to join, and that a condition for the reopening of the negotiations is the restoration of international legality and the departure of the Barbaros.

If you compare what I said in Ankara with what Mr. Davutoglu said in Athens, you will have a clear picture and you will see in how clear and categorical a manner the positions of the Republic of Cyprus were stated.

I. KASOULIDES: I can also say something on that. You asked whether the objections and concerns of some Cypriots, or even Greeks, is justified. My answer is very short. The objection is not at all justifiable. As for those who prefer to believe what they hear from Mr. Davutoglu rather than what they hear from Mr. Venizelos, their concerns are of their own making.

JOURNALIST: I would like to ask whether you believe the East-Med natural gas pipeline is economically viable.

Y. MANIATIS: We have thoroughly documented – at least on the level of a preliminary study – the economic viability of the East-Med, as well as its technical feasibility. And this was precisely the reason for the very good meeting we had, together with Mr. Lakkotrypis, with the Vice-President of the European Commission, where we presented to him the technical and economic specifications and comparative advantages of the East-Med. The fact that the European Commission promised that it will assist in this major plan shows that we have convinced our partners that we must continue in this direction.

Just allow me to add, specifically regarding the East-Med, that it is the first time, after many decades, that an energy-thirsty Europe – today and in the coming years – has the potential for there to be a new supply source from the Eastern Mediterranean, with a new route, via the East-Med pipeline, and a new supplier, which will be the Cypriot and Greek deposits, and possibly the deposits of Israel or other regions. Consequently, this constitutes a very positive development for the European Union itself, which is fully aware of its own interest, which is support for this specific pipeline.

Y. LAKKOTRYPIS: I think what my friend Yiannis said covers us completely. Let me say that we have initiated a joint action towards the European Commission, for the latter to help us look in depth at this ambitious project.

As the Republic of Cyprus, we are currently looking at all of our options for viable exploitation of the country’s natural wealth. Today, I must stress, was an excellent opportunity to align ourselves fully, both as regards the Energy Ministries, as well as with regard to the Foreign Ministries. And, for my part as well, I would like to thank the Greek government for its hospitality.

JOURNALIST: I wanted to ask, following the latest developments in Israel, with elections coming up in March, whether this impacts the issue of the Israel-Cyprus-Greece trilateral cooperation, and whether the procedures are continuing. And whether you fear, in the end, if there is a change of government in Israel, that things may change.

E. VENIZELOS: There is continuity of state policies. This is cooperation between states, not cooperation of governments.

JOURNALIST: I would like to ask the two Foreign Ministers whether you discussed a quadrilateral meeting’s being held soon. That is, the participation of Israel, as well, apart from Egypt – direct meeting, cooperation of the 4 countries, Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Egypt.

E. VENIZELOS: We didn’t discuss a direct quadrilateral meeting in that sense, because we still have the pending matter of the corresponding process between Greece, Cyprus and Israel. But we did discuss the idea of taking an initiative that will be more broadly Mediterranean. Thank you very much.
 mfa.gr
17/12/14
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