“I can't see another answer in the mean time than the bi-communal, bi-zonal federation”
The President of Estonia, Alar Karis, intends to debate the Cyprus challenge together with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, throughout a gathering they’re scheduled to have later this yr, as Mr. Karis himself acknowledged in an interview he gave at KYPE, throughout his official go to to Cyprus.
“Such a gathering is on our schedule. I suppose we’ll talk about this matter. You may't keep away from one thing like that. As a result of I’ve visited Cyprus and this challenge will definitely be raised”, mentioned Mr. Karis, when requested to say whether or not he would elevate the Cyprus challenge throughout their assembly.
Requested concerning the message he’ll give to Mr. Erdogan and whether or not he’ll repeat to him the place he has already publicly expressed relating to a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation in Cyprus, Mr. Karis replied: “Sure, that is the place of our nation. I can't see another answer proper now.”
When requested about his emotions through the go to he made to the Inexperienced Line within the divided capital of Cyprus, Mr. Karis replied that if you go to this place “the emotions are combined”.
“I’ve visited there earlier than. I had visited Cyprus 10-12 years in the past after I was Rector of a college, so I additionally visited the opposite facet of this Inexperienced Line. It’s all the time very unhappy to see that there are “borders”. And this isn’t the one “border” on the planet. It's a tragic story,” he added.
Requested concerning the views that exist in relation to the event of bilateral relations between Cyprus and Estonia, Mr. Karis mentioned that the 2 nations are fairly comparable and are each maritime.
He identified that in his official go to to the island he met various officers, together with the President of the Republic, “and we mentioned future relations. Definitely the commerce is at a considerably mediocre degree at current, however we are attempting to enhance it. And it’s important that I got here with a enterprise mission, as businessmen meet one another. The enterprise mission could be very small, however it can be crucial that there are people who find themselves already doing enterprise right here. And in addition considered one of our corporations relies in Cyprus”, he added.
So there may be already some proof, he mentioned, noting that there’s additionally cooperation within the area of tourism and there are direct flights from Tallinn – the capital of Estonia – to Paphos. “So this can be a superb begin to proceed our relationships,” he identified.
Requested to say during which areas the relations between the 2 nations could be additional developed, the Estonian President mentioned that there are a variety of areas, “maritime after all, and likewise e-government for which we’re well-known”, recalling that the 2 nations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on this space.
“So far as I do know, this summer time you can be utilizing digital prescribing, which could be very helpful for vacationers, so if they should get one thing from the pharmacy, they may be capable to get it simply. That is how we attempt to share our expertise. We began digitization a very long time in the past and had new leaders and visionaries to begin with. Definitely there could be no duplication of what was achieved, however we are able to share our expertise and work collectively to additional develop our relationships,” he added.
Requested about his nation's place on the Ukrainian challenge and whether or not he thinks sanctions also needs to be imposed on Turkey for the continued occupation of a part of Cyprus, as was achieved with Russia after its assault on Ukraine, Mr. Karis mentioned that it’s as much as Cyprus to debate this matter.
He added that sanctions are all the time a troublesome challenge. “Russia is looking for different markets to promote oil, to India, to different nations, to China, and so forth., and so we’ve to make it possible for these sanctions are going to work. They by no means work 100%. They may work at 60%. However there is no such thing as a different to sanctions,” he mentioned.
As for what's going to occur right here, he famous, “it's very onerous to say, as a result of this can be a very unhappy story. The 2 communities listed below are separated. And I hope that the UN envoy will assist to resolve the state of affairs and to discover a bi-zonal answer for Cyprus”.
“As for Ukraine, I visited it various instances, and after the warfare began, so I’ve seen fairly intently what is occurring in Ukraine, and sadly this aggression continues. What Ukraine wants is actually humanitarian help, armaments and extra. So we should all do all the things to finish this aggression that we’ve seen in Ukraine. There are additionally widespread parts with what is occurring in Gaza, although it was Hamas that began this battle within the Gaza Strip,” the Estonian President mentioned.
Requested if he can see similarities between the state of affairs in Ukraine and Cyprus, he identified that “you may all the time discover similarities in numerous conflicts and wars. How a lot this helps an answer is one other matter. However it’s the identical right here in Cyprus: we’ve to discover a answer to by some means unite the communities right here. I’m happy to see that the EU can be offering some sources to create a start-up heart in Nicosia for each side, not simply Greek Cypriots. This can be a superb begin to deliver communities collectively,” he added.
When requested about immigration and the issue that Cyprus faces because of the flows of irregular immigrants arriving on the island, the President of Estonia replied that “we’re taking part in FRONTEX in an effort to unravel this drawback. We've additionally seen migration previous our borders from North Africa and another nations, and Russia is utilizing that migration as a weapon.”
“From what I keep in mind, 7% of the inhabitants in Cyprus already consists of immigrants from numerous nations. We don't have this sort of immigration in Estonia, however we do have refugees from Ukraine. And 4% of our inhabitants are refugees from Ukraine,” he mentioned.
“So this can be a completely different story, however once more this drawback needs to be solved, to search out lodging, to search out colleges for schooling, and so forth. That is how we perceive the state of affairs in Cyprus” which is a rustic on the entrance line in terms of immigration” , mentioned Mr Caris.
