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President says Cyprus-Greece promote initiative for EU Maritime Commissioner

Cyprus and Greece have launched an initiative for the appointment of a European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs from 2024, President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday in his address at the opening of the "Thalassa" festival in Limassol.

Congratulating the organisers of the event, President Christodoulides noted that the aim of both the festival and the Government is to do much more to bring the country's young people closer to the professions that arise from working with the sea.

According to a Presidency statement, the President of the Republic also said that Cyprus as an EU member state believes that the Union does not attribute the required importance to the geostrategic role and geostrategic importance of shipping, adding that he had recently had the opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister of Malta in Iceland and has also discussed the issue with the Greek Prime Minister.

He added that an initiative has been launched which immediately after the elections in Greece will be transformed into a specific letter request of the two countries to the European Commission, a request, as he noted, of the private sector that deals with shipping issues both in Cyprus and Greece, so that within the framework of the new European Commission that will be appointed in 2024, there will be a Commissioner who will deal with shipping issues.

"It is not only its importance in the EU economy, there is a geostrategic importance, you see what is happening today, you see the implications that are arising through the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the implications that arose previously because of the coronavirus crisis, and we believe that the EU clearly through the existence of a Commissioner who will deal with maritime issues, will also show the required importance," the President concluded.

Source: Cyprus News Agency