Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 12-05-16

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] Downer: Multilateral conference still on the table

[02] Omirou: Turkish division of Cyprus our main problem

[03] Cyprus` annual inflation in April reaches 3,6% (ευρώ)

[01] Downer: Multilateral conference still on the table

In statements after being received by Cyprus President Demetris Christofias, Downer said that a multilateral conference ``is part of the process, is part of the agenda. We want to be able to hold the multilateral conference but we have to find an appropriate time to do it,`` noted.

Downer will also meet today with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu and has been speaking with the two leaders' representatives over the last two days said ``we are trying to formulate a picture of how the process can be taken forward. Obviously with two sides looking at the best way of moving the process forward we need to take soundings from both of them and pass message backwards and forwards,`` he added.

As he said ``we are doing a fair bit of shuttle diplomacy not just me but also some of my officials from the UN. And so we hope that we can make some good progress.``

Asked if the Secretary General is still optimistic that he can convene a multilateral conference in the summer, Downer said "I haven't spoken to him in the last few weeks but the SG's view when I last spoke to him was that we should keep the multilateral conference on the table. That is part of the process, that is part of the agenda. We want to be able to hold the multilateral conference but we have to find an appropriate time to do it.``

He recalled that the Greek Cypriot side has always said that all of the domestic issues have to be resolved before the negotiations move to the multilateral conference while ``the Turkish Cypriot side has always been much more enthusiastic about getting to a multilateral conference as quickly as possible, wanting a defined date straight away.``

The SG is having a look at all of this and we'll see what can be done, he added.

Asked about President Christofias' decision not to run for election again in February 2013 and how this will affect the process, Downer said "the President has made it clear to me he wants to continue with the process as best he can and I think he feels and I feel during his time as the President a lot has been achieved and he wants to try to maintain his commitment to solving the Cyprus problem right up until the day his presidency comes,`` in February next year.

He added that ``in the UN we work in the case of the Republic of Cyprus with whoever he President is. That is not a matter for the UN. For as long as he is the President that is it, he is the President. There is no one else who is the President.``

He noted that they don`t work on the basis of who they think the next President will be. ``We have no idea who the next President is going to be. Our job is to work with the existing President and we've had a happy relationship with Mr. Christofias in the time that he's been the President and the UN has been working on the Cyprus problem and we look forward to working with him for the next nine months,`` he concluded.

The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus have been engaged in UN-led peace talks since September 2008 to find a negotiated settlement that will reunite the island, divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.

[02] Omirou: Turkish division of Cyprus our main problem

``Our struggle``, he said, ``focuses on the European and international community which we urge to exert pressure on Turkey so that Ankara implements international law and human rights in Cyprus``.

Omirou, who received Wednesday pupils of the Ayios Maronas Maronite Elementary School, explained to the children the presidential system of the Republic of Cyprus.

The meeting was attended by representative of the Maronite religious group at the House of Representatives Antonis Hadjiroussos.

[03] Cyprus` annual inflation in April reaches 3,6% (ευρώ)

According to figures from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, Euro area annual inflation was 2.6% in April 2012, down from 2.7% in March. A year earlier the rate was 2.8%. Monthly inflation was 0.5% in April 2012.

EU annual inflation was 2.7% in April 2012, down from 2.9% in March. A year earlier the rate was 3.3%. Monthly inflation was 0.5% in April 2012.

In April 2012, the lowest annual rates were observed in Sweden (1.0%), Greece (1.5%), Ireland and Romania (both 1.9%), and the highest in Hungary (5.6%), Estonia (4.3%), the Czech Republic and Poland (both 4.0%). Compared with March 2012, annual inflation fell in sixteen Member States and rose in ten.

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