The role of the European Commission regarding the implementation of the maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza would be to help feed this corridor with all the necessary aid, head spokesperson Eric Mamer said responding to questions on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Cyprus on Thursday and Friday.

When asked to clarify what exactly will be announced on Friday, Mamer said those questions should be addressed to the Cypriot authorities, as Von der Leyen is visiting the country after being invited.

He stressed however that there has been work carried out behind the scenes, since the proposal was tabled by Cyprus in November. Mamer said that the visit was not connected to recent statements by the US.

Mamer did stress that this is a project faced by lots of hurdles and difficulties, and that will develop over time.

During the question-and-answer session of the Commission’s midday briefing, Mamer was asked to comment whether there were more operational details on the maritime corridor. The spokesperson responded that he had already received questions on this and had asked for “a bit of patience”.

“We will be in Cyprus this evening and tomorrow with the Cypriot President. Let me remind you that this was an initiative from Cyprus, and therefore we will be providing details with the Cypriot authorities tomorrow” he noted.

“What I can say is that of course this is a project that was announced some months ago by the Cypriot authorities, and that we have been in contact with them since then in order to make this work. And we will be playing our full role as the project unfolds” he added.

“I can confirm that this has nothing to do with any announcement by other parties” he added, explaining that “we are going there because, following all the work that has been ongoing by the Cypriot authorities and other partners, including the European Commission, we are now at a stage where the Cypriot authorities have invited us to come to Cyprus in order to launch the project.”