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 Parliamentary diplomacy can work in domains where Governments do not or cannot sometimes reach, said Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign and European Affairs of the House of Representatives of Cyprus Averof Neofytou, addressing the trilateral parliamentary meeting of Committees in charge of Foreign Affairs in the parliaments of Cyprus, Greece and Israel.
“Our shared view with my counterparts in the Parliaments of Greece and Israel, is that the importance and added value of this cooperation is both related to the fact that our parliaments will be called to translate decisions taken at Government level into legislation, as well as -and this is a commonly accepted fact- that parliamentary diplomacy can work in domains where Governments do not or cannot sometimes reach”, he said.
Neofytou said that the first inaugural meeting will focus on discussing matters mostly pertaining to the practical aspects of this new form of trilateral cooperation, in order to set a firm basis to these meetings in order to ensure the sustainability and efficiency of the endeavour. He added that the long list of possible issues to be discussed in the course of the future meetings include security and its various aspects, migration, peace, the economy, energy, trade and tourism, inter-parliamentary cooperation per se and the protection of the environment. This, as he said, is proof of the potential of this Trilateral Parliamentary Cooperation.
“The establishment of this new form of trilateral parliamentary cooperation constitutes a positive step in the direction of securing stability in our turbulent region and will, as I very much hope, prove beneficial not only to the people we represent, but also for the wider area. I am confident it will be proof of how much can be achieved when work is carried out jointly towards common goals”, he said.
He added that in parallel with the closer ties forged at the highest level of the three states, encouraging parliamentary cooperation in this same respect “is not only our wish and will, but also our duty”.
The President of the Parliamentary Committee pointed out that extending the growing relations established between the three countries to the parliamentary level can give additional impetus to the work already carried out in the sectors where cooperation is already established and beyond.
CNA/TNE/GV/2016
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY
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