The project to create the electricity interconnector linking Cyprus and Greece will proceed as normal based on the company’s preparation, Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Sunday.

“There is no shift from the project implementation planning, neither on our side nor on the EU side,” he said in an interview with Politis. The interconnector is a Project of Common Interest of the EU.

“The project will proceed normally, based on the company’s planning, in due time and taking into account all the necessary technical details,” Marinakis said.

At the same time, when asked to say how optimistic he is about movement on talks to solve the Cyprus problem, he reiterated that “the solution of the Cyprus problem is an absolute priority of Greek foreign policy.

“We have consistently supported the reunification of the island, on the basis of a bizonal, bi-communal federation, with political equality, with one sovereignty, one international personality and one citizenship, as set out in the UN Security Council Resolutions.”

He said that over the last two years the issue has been high on the agenda of the UN Secretary-General, helped in some way by improving Greek-Turkish relations.

“The foreign ministry is preparing for the next enlarged meeting,” he added, which is planned for July in Geneva with the inclusion of the island’s two sides, Greece, Turkey, the UK and the UN.

But he was quick to criticise repeated insistence on a two-state solution by the Turkish side. “It is clear that, apart from being unrealistic, it does not help in the efforts aimed at finding a viable and just solution to the Cyprus problem and of course they cannot be accepted”.