Press Releases

The 5^th Southern EU Countries Summit was held today, 29 January 2019, at the Filoxenia Conference Center, in Lefkosia. The Summit was hosted by the President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, with the participation of the President of the Republic of France, Mr Emmanuel Macron, the Prime Ministers of the Republic of Malta, Mr Joseph Muscat, the Hellenic Republic, Mr Alexis Tsipras, the Republic of Italy, Mr Giuseppe Conte, the Republic of Portugal, Mr Antonio Costa, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain, Mr Josep Borrell Fontelles.

Following the deliberations of the Summit, the six Heads of State and Government and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain, made statements to the Press.

Speaking in Spanish through interpretation in English, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain, Mr Josep Borrell Fontelles, said:

“I have conveyed to the Heads of State of the Southern European countries the apologies of the Prime Minister of Spain Mr Sanchez for not attending this meeting, as he is on an official visit to Mexico at a time when there is an ongoing crisis in Venezuela.

I would like to thank you for the possibility to participate in a discussion that was extremely interesting, as it addressed a number of crucial issues for the European construction. I am happy to see that we have a common position on issues regarding the Monetary Union. I think that all countries are in agreement that it is urgent to finish the constitutional reform of the European Union. We have to finish this before the next crisis appears, because it may have social consequences as did the last crisis. We are all in agreement regarding the need to provide the Eurozone with a consistent and coherent budget that will play a stabilizing role in a cyclical economy, helping to tackle unemployment in a way that is coherent with  national systems at European level. We have to finish building the Banking Union through the deposit currency system.

Regarding the migration problem, as everyone has said, it represents a major problem for the European Union. Spain has presented an integrated approach, reinforcing its cooperation with origin countries like Morocco, as well as with transit countries. The economic development of Africa is an absolute priority for the European Union. It is necessary to approach in a balanced manner the asylum system and to preserve the Schengen system. There is an absolute need to contribute to the economic development of Africa, taking in to account the lack of balance in terms of democracy at the two sides of the Mediterranean. The issue is of paramount importance  and will be solved by tackling illegal immigration ‘’         

(DC)