The icon of the Presentation of Christ

The icon of the Presentation of Christ, which was most probably stolen after the Turkish invasion from the Turkish occupied monastery of Saint Panteleimon in the village of Myrtou, will be repatriated very soon.

According to a press release, the icon was found by the Representation of the Church of Cyprus in Brussels being auctioned at Kaupp in Salzburg, Germany. The Church discretely managed to repossess the icon on October 5.

The icon was painted in 1787 and is attributed to hagiographer Leontios of the school of hagiography of the monastery of Saint Heracledios in the village of Politico.

Bishop of Neapolis, Porphyrios, who is the Church`s Represetantive in Brussels, has already received the icon, which will be repatriated in December and presented to Metropolitan Bishop of Kyrenia, Chrysostomos, in whose province the monastery of Saint Panteleimon belongs. 

MEPs set to dig deeper into Troika's Cyprus deal

Pressure to reveal how the Cyprus financial plans were hatched would continue, the chair of Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee, said on Tuesday when she closed a debate with Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem that left various MEPs less than fully satisfied on the quality of the answers provided.

Responding to critical questioning, Mr Dijsselbloem defended the plan as the "best possible outcome" and said a rethink of Eurogroup decision-making was not realistically on the cards.

Mr Dijsselbloem and the Eurogroup as a whole came in for criticism from all political groups. The centre-right MEP Jean-Paul Gauzès (FR) said that the Eurogroup was responsible for having caused huge collateral damage to the trust in the EU as a result of its poor communication.

Sven Giegold (Greens, DE) slammed Mr Dijsselbloem's responses as being "unacceptable" since they did not provide the details needed to understand how the "bad outcome was reached". He also asked for a full written explanation to be provided. Udo Bullman (S&D, DE) said that the Eurogroup needed more parliamentary control at European level since it had come "very close to causing a bank run with the first plan for Cyprus".

Mr Dijsselbloem defended the intergovernmental structure of the Eurogroup saying that this was what the current political context would realistically allow. He also contested the view of many MEPs that the plan for Cyprus was a bad outcome. 

He assured MEPs that lessons had been learnt and that the EU was in a better position to face new challenges now that it had new instruments and a stronger Commission to enforce discipline.

Reacting to Mr Dijsselbloem's replies, Sylvie Goulard (ALDE, FR) said that he was "the most optimistic undertaker". She asked him to deliver an agenda to avoid another Cyprus situation and to end the nationalistic decision-making of the Eurogroup.

Asked by Jurgen Klute (GUE/NGL, DE) whether Cyprus should not be compensated because part of its crisis was a result of the write downs of Greek debt, Mr Dijsselbloem said that there was no case for this since Cypriot banks had chosen to invest in Greek banks and when they did this it was already a risky strategy. 

Committee chair Sharon Bowles (ALDE, UK) said it was not fair to place all the blame on the island's banks since they were acting on promises that there would be no write downs and also at the instigation of various European political actors.

On a more general level, Mr Dijsselbloem refused to enter into the debate on whether austerity had run its course when asked this by Dirk Jan eppink (ECR, BE). He simply replied that everyone should take responsibility for what was agreed and deliver on their promises.

The hearing, organised to shed more light on the processes which led to the financial plan for Cyprus, will continue on Wednesday morning when committee MEPs will hear testimony from Commissioner Olli Rehn and ECB Executive Board member Jorg Asmussen.

(European Parliament / Economic and monetary affairs / 07-05-2013 / 18:16)

REF. : 20130507IPR08062

Full Interview with Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides - BBC HARDtalk

Cyprus is enduring the agonies of a financial and economic meltdown. But here's the really bad news for the Cypriot people - according to international economists their darkest days have yet to come. The island's economy is about to shrink dramatically, overseas investors are fleeing and the current Government is struggling to come up with a survival strategy. Who and what will save Cyprus?

ABOUT IOANNIS KASOULIDES 

Ioannis Kasoulides (Greek: Ιωάννης Κασουλίδης; born 10 August 1948 in Nicosia, Cyprus) is the Foreign Minister of Cyprus.  He studied medicine at the University of Lyon in France.  He is a member of the Conservative Democratic Rally (DISY) party in Cyprus.  Ioannis Kasoulides ran for President in the Cypriot presidential election of 2008. He won the first round, but lost in the second to Dimitris Christofias.

European Parliament calls for the withdrawal of occupation troops from Cyprus

The European Parliament has urged Turkey to withdraw its troops from Cyprus, return the fenced-off city of Famagusta to its legal owners, end the flow of illegal settlers in the occupied part of Cyprus and implement the Ankara Protocol.

In a resolution on the 2012 progress report on Turkey, members of the European Parliament expressed once again their strong support for the reunification of Cyprus, based on a fair and viable settlement for both communities.

The resolution was adopted on Thursday by the European Parliament plenary session by 451 votes in favour, 105 against and 45 abstentions.

The resolution underlined the urgent need for an agreement between the two communities on how to proceed with substantive settlement negotiations, so that the negotiating process, under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General, can soon regain momentum.

Furthermore it urged Turkey to begin withdrawing its forces its troops from Cyprus and to transfer the sealed-off area of Famagusta to the UN in accordance with UNSC Resolution 550 (1984).

MEPs called on Turkey to refrain, in accordance with the principles of international law, from any new settlement of Turkish citizens in Cyprus, as this would continue to change the demographic balance and reduce the allegiance of its citizens on the island to a future common state based on its common past;

They deplored Turkey’s refusal to fulfill its obligation of full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement towards all Member States and recalls that this refusal continues to have a profound effect on the negotiation process.

MEPs expressed their regret hat Turkey had "missed an important opportunity to start a process of engagement and normalisation of relations with Cyprus" during the Cypriot Presidency of the Council.

The resolution stressed that progress towards the normalisation of Turkey’s relations with the Republic of Cyprus is urgently needed in order to give new momentum to the EU-Turkey accession negotiations.

The resolution also called on the Government of Turkey to sign and ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) without further delay and recalled the full legitimacy of the Republic of Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone, in accordance with UNCLOS.

A pro-Turkish lobby failed to include amendments in the resolution aiming at giving to Turkish Cypriots the status of observers at the European Parliament and opening direct trade between the Turkish-occupied area of Cyprus and the EU.

(KYPE)