Cyprus launches EU presidency website

Cyprus government expressed confidence on Thursday that its European Union presidency will not in any way be upset in the event of a reunifying solution to its decades-long division.

"Let's hopefully reach a settlement and I am pretty sure that we will find a way to exercise the EU presidency in a successful way,"said government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou in launching the preliminary website of Cyprus'2012 EU presidency.

Stefanou said the issue has not yet been discussed in the ongoing negotiations between Greek Cypriots representing the internationally recognized Cyprus Republic in EU and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot community in the north.

"In the negotiations we are talking about finding a solution and its terms and not about what will happen when this solution is found," Stefanou said.

"Our wish is that when Cyprus assumes the EU Presidency, it will be a united country,"he added.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of the island following a coup by a group of Greek officers.

The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus are expected to resume re-unification talks in a week's time, with the aim of hopefully reaching a solution by the end of the year.

Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, is one of the smallest countries to ever take up the rotating European Union presidency.

It will assume the six-month presidency on July 1, 2012, in the context of a so-called "trio presidency" along with Poland and Denmark.

Stefanou expressed confidence that the Cypriot EU presidency will be a successful and productive one, despite the island's small size.


【1】 【2】