ECHR RULING ON LOIZIDOU WILL BE IMPLEMENTED

Strasbourg, 28 January 2000 (13:42 UTC+2)

The secretary general of the Council of Europe Walter Sweimer clarified yesterday that the decision by the European court for Human Rights regarding the case of Greek-Cypriot citizen Titina Loizidou will definitely be implemented.

Replying to a question raised by the British deputy Tom Kox, Mr Sweimer stressed that the implementation of the decision was necessary as a purely legal and not political issue.

He also announced that the issue would be examined by the committee of deputy foreign ministers during its next meeting next week.

Mr Sweimer discussed the matter with the head of the Cypriot delegation at the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe in Strassburg.

He further expressed his intention to have contacts with the UN secretary general or with his representatives, in order to be briefed on developments in the Cyprus issue and see to what extent he could intervene so as to boost efforts to resolve the problem.