Cyprus is committed to implementing the new Pact on Immigration and Asylum as it makes solidarity mandatory for the first time, and the country is also in favour of revising the Returns Directive, Deputy Minister for Migration and International Protection, Nicholas Ioannides, said during the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the EU held in Luxembourg on Thursday. Home Affairs Ministers discussed in a working lunch how to enhance the effectiveness of return policy for people who do not have a legal right to stay in member states, which includes those who are not in need of international protection or who pose a risk to public order and security, a Deputy Ministry press release says. Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson also briefed ministers on the state of play of the implementation of the Pact. The Deputy Minister for Migration noted in his intervention that Cyprus is committed to implementing the Pact within the set deadline, and recalled that this new set of policies is particularl y important for Cyprus as "for the first time, solidarity measures are made mandatory". Ioannides also stressed that tools included in the new pact, as well as in existing EU legislation, should be utilised to increase the rate of returns. He also noted that the revision of the Returns Directive is a necessary tool to enable Member States to successfully face new challenges. The Deputy Minister also highlighted the need to promote strategic partnerships with third countries of transit and origin, while arguing that new ways of preventing irregular migration flows should also be explored. He also referred to the importance of improving efficiency in the area of returns, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in full respect of international law. In the margins of the Council, Ioannides had a meeting with the Deputy Director General of the Directorate General for Home Affairs, Beate Gminder, with whom they discussed the managem ent of migration flows in relation to the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, the progress in the implementation of the Pact, as well as issues that Cyprus is expected to manage during the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2026. Source: Cyprus News Agency