Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides on Monday outlined Cypriot authorities’ strategy to resume flights for tourism during a teleconference held with counterparts from nine EU member-states.
The teleconference was held at the initiative of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas with participation of the Foreign Ministers of Greece, Bulgaria, Malta, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Portugal and Slovenia and Cyprus.
Speaking to CNA, Christodoulides said the German Foreign Minister discussed with other countries their plans to relax travel bans, imposed in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
“I outlined the Republic of Cyprus’ strategy concerning the reopening of airports and the kickstart of the island’s tourist industry, exploiting the so far positive epidemiological data concerning the disease on the island,” he said, stressing that “it is important to maintain this positive image both for our fellow citizens as well as for attracting tourists.”
According to a press release issued by the Cyprus Foreign Ministry, the ten Foreign Ministers discussed a coordinated approach with a view to restoring free movement and travel in the EU, stating that free movement and travel in the EU constitutes a fundamental part of the EU.
Welcoming the guidelines presented by the European Commission on Wednesday, May 13 to create the conditions for safe travel within Europe, the ten Foreign Ministers agreed that a gradual approach is the best way to normalise cross border travel in the EU and that “avoiding the risk of a possible and out of control increase in infections is of paramount importance.”
“Restoring freedom of cross-border movement can be gradually achieved under the condition that the current positive trends will continue resulting in comparable epidemiological status both countries of origin as well as in destination countries,” they said.
(CNA)
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