Brussels, 14/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - Cypriot President Demetris Christofias welcomed the work accomplished by Nicosia over the past six months while it was at the helm of the rotating EU Council of Ministers presidency. He said that even a small country has been able to prove that, with unrelenting commitment and a little creativity, it is possible to carry out a successful mission. He cited among other things the agreement reached under Cypriot Presidency on patents, and the single supervision mechanism for banks. He did, however, regret not having completed discussions on the financial assistance programme requested by Nicosia in June, saying that they had reached an agreement of principle with the troika (The Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF) but that he could not hide the fact that talks had been tough.
In his view, the protocol of agreement should be signed end January, once the financial PIMCO report on what is needed to recapitalise the banking sector is known (see EUROPE 10451). The day before, upon arriving at the European Summit, Christofias said how frustrated and disappointed he was at the outcome of discussions with future creditors. (EL/MB/transl.jl).