Full Schengen membership is a top political priority for the Republic of Cyprus, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Wednesday, at an event organised by the Glafkos Clerides Institute in Nicosia on the issue.
The progress made since March 2023 to date is significant, the Minister said, noting that the most recent evaluation by the Commission in all six areas – protection of personal data, police cooperation, external border control, returns of those not entitled to protection status, visas, the information system – which was communicated to the Government “a few days before Easter, is particularly encouraging”, he said, noting, however, that challenges remain and were “the thorniest ones”.
“Our effort was and remains to convince the Commission to carry out the final re-evaluation in all areas within the year”, he said, noting that the next six months “require hard work.”
“We have the strategy, we have the plan, we have the determination,” said the Foreign Minister, asking for the support of all political forces in achieving this “national goal.”
“The results show that today we have a very high success rate in terms of the recommendations, a smaller percentage remains that is not linear but contains significant difficulties and pitfalls”, he said.
Referring to migration flows, he said that a key condition is for the country to significantly improve its performance in terms of external borders and migration management. To be able to properly manage any migration crisis with extreme and potential scenarios being an evaluation criterion, that is, he noted.
“In the last two years, we have proven to the Commission and our partners that secondary migration flows from Cyprus to other member states were almost zero, and this is a very important thing,” he said, among other things. “We prove every day that Cyprus, as an island state without land borders, does not constitute a threat as regards migration flows to other member states; on the contrary, the Republic’s full membership would strengthen the European Union itself on its southernmost border,” he noted, adding however, that it was also important to always remain vigilant regarding the migration issue.
Kombos noted that Cyprus began implementing the core of the Schengen acquis since joining the European Union in 2004. In other words, he continued, for 21 years “we have been implementing our general obligations, but without enjoying the benefits and resulting rights”.
A full membership, he said, would facilitate the mobility of tourists, labour force, service providers, consumers, and students, it would contribute to strengthening the country’s connectivity, it would lead to an upgrade of the security level, while international trust in Cyprus would also be strengthened.
He noted that the Schengen acquis would be applied in its entirety in the areas where the Cypriot Government exercises effective control, while its application would be suspended until the solution of the Cyprus problem, in the areas of the Republic where it does not exercise effective control, just as is the case with the implementation of the rest of the EU acquis. The Green Line Regulation will continue to regulate the movement of persons, services and goods through the crossing points until the resolution of the Cyprus problem, he added.
He recalled that “the Green Line does not constitute an external border” and said that all necessary controls would be carried out to ensure public safety.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Source: CNA
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