Nicosia/Valetta, 27/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The President of the European Council, José Maria Aznar, made a brief visit to Cyprus and Malta on Tuesday, countries that have been invited, as Mr Aznar pointed out, to join the other candidates in joining the EU at the European Summit of Barcelona.
Mr Aznar said that whilst wanting to see a solution to the Cypriot problem, the European decision on accession would be taken independently of whether discussions on the future of the island progressed or not.
In Valetta, the Spanish Prime Minister declared that the presence of Malta and Cyprus in the EU would add to the credibility of the EU's Mediterranean dimension. He also expressed with "hope and confidence" that the Maltese people would say yes in the referendum scheduled for 2003.