The informal implementation of some of the provisions of the Action Plan of the EU for the Eastern Mediterranean has brought a 50% reduction in irregular arrivals through the Turkish occupied territories, and a reduction of irregular arrivals from African countries to 76%, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said in a statement on the sidelines of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

According to the Interior Minister, the completion and adoption of the plan, which includes a series of EU measures announced by the European Commission on Wednesday, "is the result of our own actions, both of the current administration and the administration of Nicos Anastasiades."

"We are pleased because the Action Plan includes almost all the actions that we proposed last May both during my own trip to Brussels and in a presentation to the Heads of Mission of all EU member states," he added.

Ioannou also thanked Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas and Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson "for the enormous efforts" they made recently to complete the Action Plan.

The Action Plan includes 29 targeted operational measures structured along four main areas: preventing irregular departures, combating migrant smuggling and providing legal migration pathways; reinforcing effective border management along the Eastern Mediterranean route, including in countries of origin and transit; strengthening cooperation on returns and readmission with countries of origin and transit; and ensuring efficient migration management, improve asylum procedures and support sufficient reception capacity.

The Cypriot Minister added that he believes that the practical implementation of the Action Plan will make the management of migration flows more efficient, and noted that "already some provisions are being implemented informally and in combination with our own actions, we are getting tangible results."

"At the moment, arrivals of irregular migrants from the occupied territories have been reduced by more than 50% and from Africa have been reduced to 76%" he added, expressing hope "that with the practical implementation of the remaining measures we will have even better results, if nothing changes in the external environment."