President to attend conference on migration

President Nikos Christodoulides will travel to Rome on Sunday, following an invitation by the Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, to participate in the International Conference on Migration and Development, the government announced on Saturday.

The conference, “which is an initiative of the Italian prime minister”, will have as its main topic of discussion the response to the migration issue, government spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, said in a written statement on Saturday.

It will be attended by leaders of Mediterranean EU member states and Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and African states, as well as international organisations and financial institutions.

“Cyprus, as one of the ‘frontline’ countries in terms of migratory flows, having the highest number of new asylum applications as a proportion of the population in the last seven years…prioritises addressing the migration issue,” he noted.

The percentage of applicants and beneficiaries of international protection status has exceeded 6 per cent of the country’s population according to Letymbiotis.

He added that the president “has repeatedly stressed the urgent need” for a comprehensive response to the migration issue that achieve a fair balance between responsibility and practical solidarity among EU member states as well as returns to third countries.