Cyprus challenges ahead

Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in East Anglian Daily Times on Mon 8th Dec 2008

Many British people know Cyprus as a holiday resort. Others know Cyprus because of military ties with the island. Older readers may recall vividly the violence which accompanied Cypriot independence from Britain in 1960, followed, fairly inevitably, by more inter-communal strife between the majority Greek and minority Turkish Cypriots -- until a Greek coup d'état provoked a Turkish invasion in 1974. Since then the island has been partitioned and the two communities segregated. In 2004, when the European Union admitted into full membership the Republic of Cyprus -- dubbed by Turks as 'Greek Administered Southern Cyprus' -- the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was forced to remain outside.

I have taken a keen interest in Cyprus, not least because of my involvement in EU-Turkey relations. In a nutshell, no solution to the Cyprus problem means no Turkish membership of the EU, even in the very long run. On a visit to the island last week, I met most of the political parties, North and South, and spoke directly with Dimitris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat, leaders respectively of the Greek and Turkish communities. The two have been engaged for several months in intensive negotiations about ending partition. They are aiming at creating a new bizonal federal state. The talks are risky for both men and filled with perilous agenda items, not least the exact form of federal government, the restitution or exchange of property between refugees, and the departure of large numbers of Greek and Turkish troops from the island. The talks take place under the auspices of the United Nations, aided and abetted by the EU.

The good news is that these talks might succeed where all previous efforts at reconciliation have failed. Both sides know that the Cyprus problem looks increasingly parochial when compared to the big security challenges elsewhere in Europe and the Middle East. Neither party can count on international sympathy. Political pressure from the EU is very helpful in defrosting this particularly nasty frozen conflict. The EU's offer of social and economic development, especially of the isolated Turkish Cypriots, combines with more reliable, collective security than that which currently exists. The EU's role in Northern Ireland and in the Balkans is being watched closely in Nicosia.

Cyprus's prospects will look rosier if and when the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force. The new treaty greatly strengthens the EU's capacity to act effectively in brokering peace settlements and in bolstering new democratic regimes. EU heads of government meet in Brussels this week to decide how to salvage Lisbon from the wreckage of the Irish referendum. There's a lot riding on Ireland as its government and parliament tries to change public opinion. The Irish could do worse than remember Cyprus.

Andrew Duff is the Liberal Democrat MEP for the East of England. www.andrewduff.eu