Christodoulides: EU has ‘most decisive role’ in latest Cyprus problem effort

President Nikos Christodoulides said that the European Union has “the most decisive role” to play in the current effort being undertaken to bring about a resumption of negotiations in earnest aimed at solving the Cyprus problem, after he met European Council President Antonio Costa. He linked efforts to solve the Cyprus problem to the government’s six-month term as the holder of the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency, which he said has been “universally acclaimed, by all accounts”, and “successful”. The term, he said, was conducted “with a specific plan, design, vision and deliverables of particular added value towards further European integration”. He said that this “demonstrates, among many other things, our commitment to the European project and to a Europe which is more autonomous, stronger and more competitive”. “Within this context, the EU has the most decisive role to play in the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ effort to restart the talks to find a sustainable and functional solution to the Cyprus problem, fully compatible with the principles, values, and law of the EU,” he said. Christodoulides’ comments come with United Nations envoy for the Cyprus problem Maria Angela Holguin set to visit Brussels in the coming days, having already travelled to Cyprus, Turkey, and Greece for contacts. At the same time, House President Annita Demetriou had on Monday called on the European People’s Party, the European political grouping to which both she and Christodoulides belong, to offer its support in pushing for the appointment of a new EU envoy on the Cyprus problem, after the previous envoy, Johannes Hahn, resigned in March. Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, too, has expressed openness to the idea of the European Union playing a greater role in efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, but stressed that, given the Republic of Cyprus’ membership of the bloc, it cannot act as a mediator. “Can the European Union support the process in a positive process through its own decision-making mechanisms? The answer is yes, and it should. Typical examples include issues like the direct trade regulation. However, if they imagine this as being at the table, it is absolutely impossible, both for us and for Turkey,” he said. The direct trade regulation is a pending EU regulation which would allow Turkish Cypriot goods, as certified by the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce, to be exported directly into Europe via the Green Line, and given preferential treatment inside the European single market as European goods. It was proposed in July 2004, three months after the rejection of the Annan plan by the Greek Cypriot side in a referendum, shortly after the Republic of Cyprus’ accession to the EU. Erhurman said that the EU has “become part of the problem” after it accepted Cyprus as a member state without the Cyprus problem being solved, and added that “after the Annan plan, some of the things it said would happen if the Greek Cypriot side said no did not happen”. “It caused the process to move in a negative direction. Therefore, I think the EU is somewhat indebted to contribute to the process, not by being at the table, but by facilitating it through its actions away from the table. If the EU makes meaningful contributions, it will help the process,” he said.