 |
EU Pledges Support for U.N. Efforts to Settle Cyprus Issue
Visiting European Commission President Romano Prodi said on Friday that the European Union (EU) will continue to support U.N. efforts to solve the Cyprus issue.
Prodi offered the pledge to Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides during their talks, where they also discussed Cyprus' EU accession negotiations, the EU's enlargement, the future of Europe and the international situation following the September 11 terror attacks in the U.S..
Clerides briefed Prodi on the latest developments of the Cyprus issue.
Prodi said after the talks that Cyprus is well advanced in the preparation for its EU membership and "will be among the first new member group."
He added that under the current international circumstances, the EU's enlargement is even more important as "it will extend the zone of security, stability, peace and justice in Europe."
He expressed regret that the Turkish Cypriot side refused to return to the U.N.-sponsored peace talks on the Cyprus issue.
Prodi also voiced conviction that the process of Cyprus' accession to the EU and the search for a political settlement of the Cyprus issue "are mutually re-impulsive," reiterating that "a settlement (of the Cyprus issue) would of course facilitate accession but is not a precondition."
"Accession will benefit all Cypriots in both political and economic terms and we think that there is now a window of opportunity until the end of the negotiations, probably in the next half of next year for a settlement," said Prodi, who arrived Thursday for a two-day visit.
Clerides said that Prodi's visit was a landmark and "full of encouraging messages" for Cyprus.
He said he was particularly pleased that Prodi had stated that the European Commission proceeded toward the conclusion of accession negotiations with candidate countries by the end of 2002 and that the Helsinki decisions on Cyprus will be upheld.
The EU Helsinki summit held in December 1999 concluded that a solution to the Cyprus issue does not constitute a precondition for the accession talks.
On a separate occasion of the day, Prodi visited a U.N. mission in Nicosia and the U.N.-controlled buffer zone.
He also met with Greek Cypriot trade unionists at the Nicosia Town Hall.
The meeting was originally to be held at the U.N.-controlled buffer zone, with the participation of Greek and Turkish Cypriot trade union leaders. But the regime in northern Cyprus did not allow the Turkish Cypriot trade unionists to attend the meeting.
Cyprus, divided since Turkey's invasion in 1974 after a failed pro-Athens coup, started its accession talks with the EU in 1998, and has so far completed 23 out of 29 chapters of EU's rules and regulations.
In This Section
|