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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 03-07-04
From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>
[01]Friday, 04 July 2003 Cyprus - Europol sign co-operation agreement
[02] Cyprus accedes to two international agreements
[03] Straw and Gul discuss Cyprus and prospects for solution
[01] Cyprus - Europol sign co-operation agreement
Cyprus has signed an agreement on law enforcement co-operation with Europol
- the European Police Office - related to the fight against international
organised crime, including the exchange of personal data. This agreement
will permit the exchange of operational information on serious, international
criminals and criminal organisations between Europol and competent law
enforcement agencies in Cyprus, while additionally supporting transborder
investigations and operations by analysis, expertise, coordination and
technology. Cyprus will appoint a liaison officer to work in the Europol
headquarters in The Hague alongside liaison officers of the current Member
States as well as of several acceding countries.
The text of the Cyprus-Europol agreement was approved at the last meeting
of the Council of Ministers, in Luxembourg on 5 and 6 June, during the
Greek Presidency of the European Union. The co-operation agreement was
signed today by the Justice and Public Order Minister, Mr Doros Theodorou,
on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus, and the Director of Europol, Mr Jurgen
Storbeck.
[02] Cyprus accedes to two international agreements
The Charge d'Affaires of the Permanent Mission of Cyprus to the United
Nations, Mr George Kasoulides, deposited last Tuesday and Wednesday with
the Treaties Section of the UN Secretariat in New York, the instrument of
accession of the Republic of Cyprus to two international agreements, one
relating to the safety of UN personnel and the other to the international
carriage of goods by road. On 1 July, Mr Kasoulides deposited the
instrument of accession to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations
and Associated Personnel, which was adopted by a decision of the General
Assembly on 9 December 1994 and put into effect in January 1999. The
Convention has 64 parties and 43 signatories.
On 2 July, he deposited with the UN the instrument of Cyprus' accession to
the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by
Road and its relevant Protocol. The Convention, which was adopted in Geneva
on 19 May 1956, has 30 parties and 6 signatories.
[03] Straw and Gul discuss Cyprus and prospects for solution
The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, received yesterday in London
the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr Abdullah Gul, with whom he discussed,
inter alia, the progress of EU-Turkish relations and the reform package
which Turkey must implement for it to begin accession talks, the situation
in Iraq, and Cyprus. Replying to a question on Cyprus after the one-hour
meeting, the British FM said, as regards the easing of restrictions on
movement by the occupation regime, that "the fact that effectively the
"border" has come down, you have these huge flows of people on either side
of the border… suggests that the Cypriot people on both sides of the line
have got a very positive and constructive approach after living together,
for the future". He added, however, that the Cyprus issue was a complex one
with particular historical and legal intricacies. "What we want to do is
that we do all we can to help all the parties, Greek Cypriots and Turkish
Cypriots, Greece and Turkey, to resolve these and to help, hopefully, to
resolve them as quickly as they can", Mr Straw said.
On his part, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr Gul, told journalists that
since the beginning of its administration, the Erdogan government had
declared that "no solution is not a solution for us", noting, "We are
working for the solution but definitely a lasting solution should be
satisfactory for both sides". He further said that once the peace talks
would resume, the climate on the negotiating table would be different due
to the recent positive developments on the island.
From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/
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