The priorities of Cyprus' presidency of the EU Council of Ministers are being presented to European Parliament committees by Cypriot ministers this week, the European Parliament said in a press release.
EU enlargement "is one of our top priorities" and "it can in no way finish with the accession of Croatia", Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis told the Foreign Affairs Committee on 10 July. The Presidency wishes to inject more dynamism into accession talks, particularly with Iceland. Although Turkey refuses to have contacts with the Cyprus Presidency, the Presidency would "apply the same conditions to it as to any other candidate country," he added.
Many MEPs asked the minister to put the very good relations of Cyprus with Arab Spring countries at the service of greater EU involvement in democratic transitions. The minister replied that Syria's President Assad should step down before direct confrontations erupt which would have spill-over effects on the region, starting with Lebanon. On the case of the Russian vessel shipping arms to Syria which refuelled in Cyprus, she said Cyprus had launched criminal proceedings against the captain, ship-owners and managing company.
