CyprusGasNews May 2014 CyprusGasNews for June 2014 | Page 5

en makes historic Cyprus visit

US Vice President Biden
makes historic Cyprus visit

Eastern Mediterranean, transforming the Eastern
Mediterranean into a new global hub for natural
gas, US Vice President Joe Biden said, pledging
his country stands prepared to assist the efforts
for the reunification of Cyprus, divided since the
1974 Turkish invasion.
Cyprus Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides
speaking at a press conference at the Foreign
Ministry, said that Biden`s visit was symbolic,
demonstrating the US interest for a solution of
the Cyprus issue.
Kasoulides stressed Cyprus` upgraded role in
the region of the Eastern Mediterranean and
recalled that Biden described Cyprus as a key
player in the wider region and a strategic partner
of the US.
Analysts said Washington hoped to not only
bolster its waning presence in the eastern
Mediterranean through energy, but was clearly
aiming to bring pro-American countries together
in a region that had become increasingly
anti-western with the rise of Islamic
fundamentalism since the Arab Spring
Israel has discovered huge deposits and it
desperately needs safe export routes through
pipelines that either go via Cyprus or its
exclusive zone. For an administration that needs
a foreign policy success Cyprus seems to be
fixable and this is what Biden’s visit was all
about.

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