From 1st July, Cyprus will take over the presidency of the European Union for the next six months. On this occasion, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament

met in Nicosia with President Dimitri Christofias and his entire government.

Gabi Zimmer, President of GUE/NGL, stressed that Cyprus will have to face enormous challenges during its presidency. Europe is undergoing one of the most important economic crises since the 1930s,

which is badly affecting its future and its economy; tackling the economy and dealing with the social crisis must be the top priorities of the forthcoming presidencies.

Our societies will not survive years of economic and social decline brought about by blind austerity policies. "It is not up to people to pay for the crisis," Gabi Zimmer said.

"What people expect from Europe is job creation, to fight against poverty and for social justice. What normal people expect is that Europe does not only save the banks but also people."

Gabi Zimmer met with Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of AKEL, and assured him of the GUE/NGL group's solidarity and its availability and cooperation during the Cyprus presidency.

She also met an important delegation of trade unionists from the Turkish-Cypriot community in Nicosia. They informed her of their concerns about the situation there and the movement of new settlers

arriving from Turkey and the wish to assimilate the Turkish-Cypriot population.

In her wishes for a successful presidency, Gabi Zimmer paid tribute Dimitri Christofias's achievements up until now on the Cyprus issue and said she hoped that peace will prevail in Cyprus.

"A peaceful co-existence of the two communities is the only possible solution," said Gabi Zimmer.

GUE/NGL Press Contacts:

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20

gabrielle.kavanagh@europarl.europa.eu 

David Lundy +32 485 50 58 12

david.lundy@europarl.europa.eu

European United Left / Nordic Green Left

European Parliamentary Group

www.guengl.eu