EU justice commissioner calls for strengthening of the AG’s office (Updated)

Strengthening the attorney general’s office in Cyprus, as well as sanctions against Russian and Belarusian entities on the island, were the main topics of discussion during the meeting between Attorney-general George Savvides with EU Commissioner of Justice Didier Reynders on Thursday.

In his statements after the end of the meeting, Savvides expressed his gratitude for Thursday’s meeting with Reynders, with whom, as he said, he had the opportunity to cooperate successfully in the past.

He added that the meeting was very constructive, and they discussed the European Commission’s annual report on the rule of law for this year and last. The attorney-general said that it was explained to the commissioner that the Legal Service is fully aligned with the recommendations of the exhibition.

Savvides said that issues of sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine were also discussed, as well as the developments regarding the actions of his office as a result of Nikolatos’ reports on the Cyprus investment program, a subject for which a meeting had been held with Reynders in 2021.

“We will of course be in touch on various issues that arose during the meeting, and I am sure that the excellent cooperation between our offices will continue in the future,” he said.

Commissioner Reynders said that both sides are working to strengthen the attorney-general’s office, as the recommendations of the European Commission include the allocation of more financial and human resources, as well as digital tools to fight corruption in the country.

He added that it is important to see that a real investment is being made in such an independent body for various investigations and that the commission has found a real willingness to allocate more resources, adding that the debate on the matter will continue in the coming months.

Reynders also said that the two sides continue to work to review some of the decisions made in the past under the citizenship investment plan, adding that it is very important to ensure that inquiries are made into the issue and that it is possible to establish a clear procedure for the possible review of certain decisions.

The justice commissioner added that due to the Russian attack on Ukraine last year, it is very important to strengthen the sanctions, noting that the commission is trying to get more and more information from Cyprus, mainly, he said, from the government and less from the attorney-general.

He added that the commission’s desire is to ensure the possibility of freezing assets belonging to oligarchs and Russian and Belarusian entities, adding that with so many large Russian investments in Cyprus in the past, it is difficult to understand why assets of only a little more than 100 million have been frozen in the country.

Reynders called on Savvides to investigate all sanction violations, adding that he would also recommend the same to parliament later in the day.