The future of Cyprus

Speech by Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP delivered to European Parliament on Tue 20th Apr 2004

Mr President, I understand why Commissioner Verheugen feels cheated on the 1999 deal that the Greek Cypriot Government would facilitate a settlement if accession were unconditional.

My own view in 1999 that accession was not feasible without unification. We should have kept both sides guessing in order to keep up the pressure. I was criticised for that view and accused of bias. However, it looks as if communication with Turkish Cypriots - convincing them that Europe is friendly and welcoming - has paid off. That kind of effort has also been undertaken by the European Commission in the face of legalistic objections.

The EU institutions have perhaps let down the Greek Cypriots by failing sufficiently to challenge their version of history or to encourage them to realise that a compromise would be necessary - not a return to the pre-1974 situation. This House bears some of that responsibility. Mr Poos calls on Cypriots to leave nationalism at the door. I welcome that call. I just wish it had been made consistently on both communities over the last five years.

If indeed the north votes 'yes' and the south 'no', the status quo cannot endure and a new assessment will be needed. Ways will have to be found to bring Turkish Cypriots out of their political and economic isolation. For instance, we must drop the requirement for Cypriots to have Greek mother tongue in order to be officials in the EU institutions. There must be a European Parliament delegation to Northern Cyprus. I am getting ahead of myself. I still hope very much that Greek Cypriots, as well as Turkish Cypriots, will vote 'yes' on Saturday. The World Bank predicts a huge growth spurt of 5% per annum if they do so.

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