French Ambassador: Conditional dialogue with Turkey

The need for careful monitoring of Turkey`s actions in all activity areas was underlined by the French Ambassador to Cyprus Salina Grenet-Catalano, who participated in today`s meeting of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives in order to present the priorities of the French Presidency of the European Union.

In response to questions from members of the Committee regarding the stance of France and the EU towards Turkey`s problematic behaviour, Grenet-Catalano noted that a constructive and pragmatic dialogue with Turkey on issues such as climate change and the fight against terrorism should be pursued, however, under clear conditions such as respect for international law, adding that under the current circumstances the dialogue cannot be about Turkey`s accession to the European Union.

In his statements following the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Harris Georgiades expressed his support for the strategic autonomy efforts of the European Union. "It is necessary for the EU to speak with one voice in relation to international developments, in its external relations," he noted.

In this context, he said, "We support initiatives for a Common Defence and a Common European Army, as well as the promotion of the new Pact on Immigration and Asylum as a priority," adding "the need to have a credible, common policy towards Turkey."

During her presentation of the French Presidency`s priorities, the Ambassador referred to the three main pillars entitled "recovery, power and sense of belonging" and outlined the main objectives of the Presidency`s programme, which include, among other
things, the creation of a new governance system for the Schengen area, relaunching discussions on the European Asylum and Migration Pact, the adoption of the Strategic Compass, the geographical focus on Africa and the Western Balkans, the creation of a new European economic and social model, and the implementation of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

In response to a question about NATO`s role in the Strategic Autonomy initiative, the French ambassador said that the relationship between the two will be complementary, stressing that the priority for France is the defence of Europe, while asked to comment on the inclusion of nuclear energy in the European Commission`s green energy list, Grenet-Catalano noted that, like natural gas, nuclear energy is a transitional form of energy on the way to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.