Cyprus’ accession to the Schengen Area will primarily strengthen security in the country, the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides said on Monday, noting that from the Government’s perspective there are no concerns about “a hard border” in relation to the Green Line.

Asked by a journalist, after the inauguration ceremony of the Business Support Center, in Nicosia regarding the concerns that are being expressed by the Turkish Cypriot side as regards Cyprus’ accession to the Schengen zone and that, among other things, “a hard border” would be created, President Christodoulides noted, “we have heard concerns from both the Turkish Cypriot side and Greek Cypriots”.

“Our accession to Schengen will primarily strengthen security in our country. This is the main reason that led us to take this political decision”, he said.

The President recalled that when the Republic of Cyprus “dared to apply for membership in the European Union, we heard similar voices from some that on the one hand the Republic of Cyprus would not join or if the Republic of Cyprus joins it would mean partition.” “As Government, we have a clear plan, we know where we are going, and we are working very specifically for this ambitious goal, there are no such concerns about a hard border, on the contrary, I repeat, it strengthens the security of the country which is our obligation primarily to our citizens,” President Christodoulides said.

The President had said recently that the goal was for Cyprus to join the Schengen Area next year and that the Government was working hard to address all technical issues to ensure that this would be the case.