EU officials meet Cyprus' Anastasiades amid growing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean

Amid growing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades met with EU officials in Brussels, where he travelled to attend the EU Council’s emergency meeting on the bloc’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
The Cypriot President, held bilateral meetings with the Presidents of the Commission and EU Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, correspondingly, as well as with European People’s Party chief, Donald Tusk.
On Wednesday, Anastasiades met the Parliament’s Italian chief, David Sassoli, with the budget proposals and the challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean topping the discussions.
Sassoli reiterated his support in Cyprus’ sovereignty, considering it a synonym to the bloc’s own sovereignty.
According to the government’s spokesperson Kyriacos Koushos, the Cypriot President raised the matter of Varosha, the fenced-off part of Turkish occupied Famagusta and Turkey’s illegal activities in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone, while he also asked for a more active EU role to the resolution of the Cyprus conundrum.