Greece and Cyprus have announced their cooperation in order to jointly promote their participation in the ‘European Transport Corridors,’ with mutual benefits and the strengthening of port infrastructure in both countries.
This was announced after a meeting at the Ministry of Transport on the afternoon of 18 October, between the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Alexis Vafeades, the Deputy Minister of Shipping, Marina Hadjimanolis, and the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy of Greece, Christos Stylianides.
In statements after the meeting, Stylianides said that the meeting focused mainly on issues concerning the port of Limassol and the Greek ports connected to it, “not only on shipping issues, but also on issues that can help the infrastructure of our ports and make our region a hub of maritime developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
He noted that they discussed cooperation within the framework of the European institutions, “where we have joint presences in various councils, in which Greece and Cyprus will promote their participation in the so-called European corridors, in a direct and practical way that will create conditions for the upgrading of Greek and Cypriot ports”. He added that these are important opportunities for both Greece and Cyprus to enter “this game of trans-European networks, which will bring significant benefits to both economies”.
Stylianides noted that both Member States were affected by the two wars in the region “and there must be a return from other European states through the European funds, so that countries like Greece and Cyprus that are bearing this cost at least get a return for their great contribution to European security and European cooperation.”
On his part, the Minister of Transport said that the challenges and problems of Greece and Cyprus are common and “I think together we can find better solutions. We can turn these challenges into advantages and by working together to address these issues I think we will end up with an upgrade of our infrastructure, an upgrade of services between the two countries and at the end of the day this will be for the benefit of both the Greek and the Cypriot people,” Vafeades said, noting that this will bring many benefits for the coming years, not only in the short term but also in the long run.
The Deputy Minister of Shipping said, “We have agreed on joint actions which we will start tomorrow in Limassol, where we will host the Minister and his team”. Hadjimanolis noted that in order to be able to have proper and serious services as a state, infrastructure is necessary. “I am particularly happy after this meeting, because cooperation on infrastructure issues will be strengthened so that both Cyprus and Greece in the coming period can take the lead in various serious issues,” she said.
(Source: CNA)
