Regarding developments in the Middle East, the unequivocal condemnation of Iran’s attack will be accompanied by urging all members of the European Council to do whatever in their power to de-escalate the crisis and prevent it from spreading regionally, Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said upon his arrival to the European Council in Brussels on Wednesday.
“At the special European Council, we will primarily focus on foreign policy issues, but also issues concerning the competitiveness of the European economy,” he added.
The European Council will also discuss issues relating to EU-Turkish relations on the basis of the progress report prepared by the European Commission, he said, adding that he is satisfied with “the conclusions reached, which recognize the fact that EU-Turkey relations can progress, but always within the framework of the decisions of the European Council.”
“In full agreement with Cyprus, I express my satisfaction for the fact that there is an explicit reference, which links the progress of Euro-Turkish relations with the progress that can be made on the Cyprus issue, with explicit references to the decisions of the Council Security that define the only framework, based on which the Cyprus problem can be resolved”, he underlined. He added that “we also express our expectation that this new effort, which is being carried out under the UN envoy, will finally be able to bear fruit.”
Focus on improving the European citizens’ standard of living
The prime minister announced that the issues concerning the competitiveness of the European economy will be discussed on Thursday. He pointed out that these issues are “at the center of our own interests, as we consider these issues to be absolutely critical for the next 5 years. I want to emphasize that Europe’s competitiveness is not an abstract concept. It is a concept that must be linked to the improvement of the standard of living of all European citizens, something to which our country attaches extremely great importance.”