The four Mediterranean countries are coordinating actions on the margins of the informal Summit of the EU, seeking a common European strategy on asylum and returns.
At a time of intense pressure on migration flows to Central and Eastern Mediterranean, Ayia Napa is becoming a focal point for European political coordination, as Cyprus uses its presidency of the EU Council to bring critical Mediterranean partners to the table. Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Italy and Malta are attempting to shape a common line in managing migration by strengthening their cooperation in the face of increased arrivals and the challenges of the asylum and return system. The issue is at the heart of informal European processes, while opening channels of communication with key countries in the region such as Egypt and Lebanon, where significant migratory flows originate or pass through, highlighting the dimension of a wider geopolitical and humanitarian equation in the Mediterranean.
An another critical aspect of the informal European Council that Cyprus is hosting in Ayia Napa is unfolding on the frame ofofficial business, according to ProtoThema.gr, with migration being put on the agenda for a separate quadrilateral meeting between Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Italy.
The subject
According to reports, the meeting will take place shortly after the conclusion of the working dinner, with the subject of coordinating the four countries against the increasing pressures on the Mediterranean.
Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Italy are at the forefront of migratory flows and are seeking a common stance on an issue that directly affects both their national management capacities and the overall European asylum and return policy.
Basic Mediterranean and European issue
The quadrilateral is taking place in the context of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union and shows that Nicosia is trying to highlight migration as a key Mediterranean and European issue.
Migration is not limited to the quadrilateral. According to the same sources, President Nicos Christodoulides is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with the president of Egypt and the president of Lebanon on the sidelines of tomorrow’s meeting. This dimension is important because it links the European debate with the countries of the region through which or from which migratory and refugee flows pass.
Lefkosia is trying to use the occasion of the informal summit to give political weight to issues that directly affect Cyprus.
Migration is one of them, and the quadrilateral shows that the Cyprus Presidency wants to forge common ground with the other Mediterranean states, rather than let the debate get lost in general European declarations.
